The Virus
by Little Miss Defensive
Summary: "There had been many times over the years at the SGC where she wondered whether the Goa'uld would take over, or perhaps even replicators… but a human designed virus? Never had it crossed her mind." Set around season 7. S/J
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Oh no. I'm not sure what happened here. I had a bunch of one-shots/short stories in mind… but I see a _big_ fic coming up. I have got some exciting plans for this story!

..

Sam awoke with a whimper. Her dreams were getting worse. They were wreaking havoc on her already fragile emotional state. She hugged the girl sleeping beside her closer, causing a sigh to escape the girl's mouth.

"Did you dream of him again?" Cassie whispered so as not to wake the other people sleeping in their tent.

"Who?" Sam decided playing dumb was the best choice. It was too early in the morning for such serious conversations, if it was morning at all. It was hard to tell as it was still dark outside it could be anywhere from midnight to 0700 hours on this planet.

"Only the man you have been searching high and low for… it's been two weeks since we arrived and it's all you have done Sam." Sam shifted next to the girl releasing her grip slightly and turning to lay on her back. She had her eyes open but she could barely make anything out in the dark of the tent. Cassie snuggled closer her head resting on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Cassie, I know it's not easy on you. I just feel like… I have to keep looking." Cassie was quiet for a moment and at first Sam thought she may have fallen back asleep but eventually she broke the silence with another sigh.

"It's okay, I know you would never admit to loving him-" Sam let out a scoff at this. "-_but_ I know you care for him deeply." Cassie was far too perceptive sometimes.

"I do." Sam answered. Deep down she knew Cassie was right. She had been in love with Colonel Jack O'Neill for a _very_ long time. It was something she had never spoken aloud though, she was unsure she even possessed that kind of courage. Thanks to a certain Za'Tarc machine they had both been forced to admit _feelings_ for each other long ago. Eventually Cassie's breathing evened out and she fell back asleep but Sam lay awake her mind wandering back to the last time she spoke to Jack.

..

"_Sir, you need to get to Cheyenne Mountain NOW. General Hammond is about to place us in lockdown. If you don't get here…" She knew she sounded panicked but she couldn't seem to control herself anymore. The military side of her had flown out the window the moment she realised that Colonel O'Neill was not in Cheyenne Mountain as she had assumed. He was in Minnesota at his cabin._

"_Carter!" The way he barked her name over the phone line made her pause and suck in a deep breath. "There is no way I'll make it to Cheyenne Mountain before the lockdown. I haven't even been tested, I don't know if I'm infected."_

"_But Sir, the doctor will test-" he cut her off again with another sharp 'Carter' and again she was struck silent. He continued in a quieter voice._

"_Sam, get yourself and Cassie the hell off this planet. I promise I'll do everything in my power to evacuate as well." She wasn't sure if he was just telling her that so she would leave – or if he really would find a way to get off Earth._

_No-one could have predicted that Earth would end in such a fashion. There had been many times over the years at the SGC where she wondered whether the Go'uld would take over, or perhaps even replicators… but a human-designed virus? Never had it crossed her mind._

..

She must have fallen asleep again as she woke to a thin stream of light coming through a gap in their tents zip. There were almost one hundred refugees on this planet, Palla the villagers called it. Their original plan had been to head to the Alpha site but it was compromised at the last minute when someone on the staff contracted the virus. Instead; all of those who had made it to Cheyenne Mountain were sent to various planets that had in the past agreed to take on people from Earth in a global emergency.

"Sam, coffee?" Cassie poked her head in the tent and Sam took a quick look around and realized the other two people sharing their tent had already gotten up. She pulled herself up and shuffled to the tent entrance on her knees taking the steaming mug gratefully between both her hands.

"How are you feeling this morning Cass?" She sat back so that Cassie could enter too.

"I'm okay." Cassie answered quietly. There wasn't much privacy when all of the refugees were living in tents jammed into one small field. They had taken to speaking in quiet tones at all times. Everyone seemed to still be rather shell-shocked and there were many still grieving for their loved ones on earth – there wasn't a lot of reason to talk yet anyway.

"Any news?" Sam took a sip of her coffee and smiled. There was nothing like the first coffee of the day. Her smile turned into a frown when memories of Jack waking her when they were off-world with coffee and a '_good morning Captain'_ or in later years a _'good morning Major'_ and if she was lucky he might even slip in a _'good morning Sam'_ every now and again.

"Are you even listening to me?" Cassie poked her in the shoulder with a slight smile on her face.

"Sorry, I must have zoned out." She gave Cassie a sheepish smile.

"General Hammond wants to speak to you when you are ready."

"I'll go now. Maybe he will agree to let me travel through the gate today." Cassie shook her head sadly.

"Sam…" She started speaking then stopped, pressed her lips together and turned away. "Just… don't get your hopes up… okay?" She turned back her eyes glittering with unshed tears.

"Oh Cassie." Sam shoved their sleeping bags that they had zipped together out of her way and put her mug down first before pulling the woman into a tight hug. "We will _both_ be okay." She rested her chin on Cassie's head, keeping her in her arms.

"If you do go…" She felt Cassie's tears wet against her chest. "Please come back." Sam knew this was the real reason for Cassie's tears. In her short life she had lost both her parents and her adopted mother… losing Sam too would be just _too_ much.

"Cassie, I'll do whatever I can to ensure my safety. I will _always_ come back for you." She pulled the girl away and looked her in the eyes. "Okay?"

"Okay," Cassie swiped at her tears and took a deep breath. "Okay," she repeated – thankfully this time her voice a little stronger.

**TBC.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Virus

Chapter Two

..

Sam walked silently down the aisle between the tents. Things had been set up in typical military fashion – two _long_ rows of tents. There were multiple fires set up down the middle where she was walking and various cooking utensils lying around. She saw the odd piece of clothing, blankets and even a teddy bear. It was all incredibly depressing. The villagers had no space in their small houses for the people of Earth. Sam was surprised they took them in at all as she knew their last crop had not been a good one. She only hoped that those that had arrived from Earth could help them produce more food or they were in _big_ trouble.

"Major Carter," she jerked her head up in surprise. She had been lost in her thoughts again and hadn't realized she had already reached the end of the tent rows and she was standing in front of General Hammond. The restless sleep from the past two weeks was definitely catching up on her. She rubbed a tired hand over her face and greeted the General. He gestured to a large log by a fire and she sat down sitting stiffly her eyes following his every move. _Please say yes. Please let me go today._ "I've decided it would be safe for you to travel to one of the other planets now." She leapt to her feet but the General gave her a stern look so she quickly sat back down.

"Thank you Sir," she gave him the biggest smile she could muster.

"You will need to take a team. If _anyone_ is infected there… you will not return." Butterflies danced her stomach. It was a huge risk. Cassie would be left alone. She would break her promise to one of the people who meant the most to her. She swallowed a rising lump in her throat and nodded.

"Yes Sir," she licked her lips nervously. Now to tell Cassie.

..

Telling Cassie was not as hard as she expected. Cassie wasn't stupid and she would have foreseen something like this happening. She gave Sam a tight hug and simply told her '_You will be back, I know you will.'_ Sam found walking away from her and towards the team she had gathered… one of the hardest things she had _ever_ done in her life.

"OK, are we all ready?" She snapped back into military mode the moment she picked up her firearm. She was not screwing this up. If this mission went well – and if she didn't find Jack on this planet – she would hopefully be allowed to continue searching. She had told General Hammond she was looking for all of SG-1 which was true in a sense… it was just that Colonel O'Neill was currently her highest priority. It wasn't really a lie, just not the _whole_ truth.

"Yes Ma'am." She looked around at her team. Captain Gregory, Captain Maize and Major Samuel's all saluted her. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and strode towards the gate. She dialled in the sequence and rolled her shoulders back as she watched the gate initiate.

She took one last look over her shoulder and stopped in her tracks. General Hammond stood at the edge of the tents and Cassie stood next to him. She was standing ramrod straight and had the most intense look on her face. Maybe Cassie wasn't as positive about Sam returning as her earlier words had portrayed. She gave Cassie a wave and a reassuring smile before stepping into the wormhole.

..

The first thing she heard when she arrived on the other side of the wormhole was yelling. She immediately found herself on high alert and took in her surroundings. It looked almost exactly like the planet we had left except that…

"SAM!" She dropped her gun and it banged hard against her hip making her wince.

"Daniel!" She called back. He ran up the stairs and she stood frozen to the spot. His arms wrapped around her and she immediately returned his hug. When he finally let her go she took a step back to take in his appearance. He looked okay, but as tired as she felt. "I am so glad to see you Daniel." She told him seriously.

"Teal'c? Jack?" Daniel asked immediately his smile falling when she shook her head.

"I came looking for Ja… them…" She stumbled over her words, nearly slipping up and saying _his_ name.

"He's not here." Daniel gave her a knowing look and she ignored the flutter in her heart.

"It was hard enough convincing General Hammond to let me come here." She closed her eyes briefly. She knew deep down it was never going to be that easy to find Jack.

"This is Daniel Jackson," she introduced the young man to her team and the five of them headed down the stairs leading from the Stargate and into the camp.

"There are a few people I'm sure you would like to see." Daniel gestured for them to follow him into the camp.

Sam's feet felt leaden as she followed Daniel around, greeting those she knew and introducing herself to those she didn't. She was dazed and hardly aware of the words that came out of her mouth. There were less people on this planet and though Daniel had told her Teal'c and Colonel weren't here, she still kept hoping to see their heads pop out of one of the tents… for them to suddenly stride from the trees – Teal'c with his staff weapon and the Colonel with his lopsided grin that he kept just for her.

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

The Virus

Chapter 3

..

Almost the moment she sat down for lunch someone down the other end of the camp began yelling something out. They were too far away for her to make out their words but when she looked to the gate and saw the wormhole engage all common sense left her. She leapt to her feet and ran with all she had towards the gate. She skidded to a halt just as people began appearing and she tried to control her breathing. _Let it be him. Let it be him._

"Sam!" She flicked her gaze back briefly to see Daniel running towards her and then her eyes went straight back to the gate. They were military. This was a good sign. Five or six men were walking down the stairs but none were the Colonel, yet. She stared at the still open wormhole and began counting in her head. _1… 2… 3…_

It was then that he appeared. His eyes locked on hers the moment he stepped through – it was as if he knew exactly where she was standing. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she stood rooted to the spot. _Am I dreaming_? With the current state she was in she wouldn't rule out hallucinations either.

"Major Carter," that lopsided grin. She managed to unglue her feet and she began walking towards him. They met somewhere in the middle and it took every tiny little ounce of self-control not to leap into his arms.

"I… uh… Hi!" She blinked rapidly and felt a blush rise to her cheeks at the stammering words that had just escaped her mouth.

"Get over here." He commanded. She let her weapon fall to her side once more, she hadn't even realized she was holding it. She supposed some part of her must have realized it wasn't necessarily friends coming through the gate. She took another step and all but fell into his arms.

"I thought I might never see you again." She mumbled against his vest. His arms crushed her to his chest. She wasn't sure but she could have sworn he just kissed the top of her head. She wrapped her arms tighter around his middle wishing she never had to let go. It wasn't until someone nearby cleared their throat that she finally managed to step away. She turned to see Daniel with his eyebrows raised in their direction.

"Danny boy! Good to see you." The Colonel nodded at the young man. He was acting casual but Sam could see he was incredibly relieved. He may whinge and moan about Daniel but Sam knew he truly cared for him, just as he cared for Teal'c and herself. They were a tight knit team and so far nothing had managed to tear them apart.

"Do you know where Teal'c is?" She asked, still feeling flustered after being wrapped in the arms of the man she had so desperately sought.

"Yes, he's on Chulak." Jack answered. Relief flooded through her.

"The whole team made it then huh?" Daniel smiled. "Shall we go eat our lunch now Sam?" He looked at her with on eyebrow raised. _If I can tear you two apart_. His look told her. She let out a small laugh and tried to step away from Jack but a hand held her back.

"What about me?" She glanced back up at the Colonel with a small smile on her face. Her smile fell when her eyes locked on his and she was trapped in the intensity of his gaze. Everything around her seemed to suddenly disappear while those eyes held hers. "Sam…" He started and then shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm hungry." He told her - instead of whatever else he had begun to say.

"Of course you are invited too." She told him. His fingers were still wrapped around her wrist and she looked at his hand and back up to his face, raising her eyebrows. He let go but she could see his reluctance. They had only just got each other back and the physical contact was reassuring. She walked alongside him 'accidentally' bumping into him now and again just to ensure he was still there. She couldn't very well walk and keep her eyes on him at the same time.

Lunch was a complete different story. She found her eyes gravitate towards him every few minutes. She was pleased to find he was doing the same thing. They were like long-lost lovers… apart from the whole _lover_ part. They talked of menial things over lunch, they all seemed afraid to broach the subject of _Earth_. She knew they would have to eventually – but for now they were just satisfied to be back together.

"You guys should come back to Palla with me." She told them, looking from one to the other. "General Hammond will be more than pleased to see you both."

"Of course he will, we are his best team!" The Colonel's words were supposed to be funny but a strange wave of sadness enveloped her. They _were_ his best team. Nothing would ever be the same again. They wouldn't be out there saving the world anytime soon. Everyone from Earth would have to find somewhere to permanently settle at some point. At the moment the count was just under a thousand people from Earth that were now scattered across five planets. The president was somewhere amongst the refugees. Would he still be their leader after all that had happened? Would they find an uninhabited planet and start fresh?

"Hey," the Colonel's elbow nudged her in the ribs. "Wakey, wakey." He gave her a grin.

"Sorry, what was that?" She had been vaguely aware of the two men talking while she dwelled on the loss of Earth in her mind.

"You should head back now, looks like your team is ready to go." Daniel pointed off to his left and she saw the three members of her team standing looking rather awkward.

"Crap," she muttered. She had actually _forgotten_ she was in charge of them. "Hey," she called out with a smile. "Time to go!" She gathered together all she had brought and a hand reached down to pull her up. She didn't even have to look up to know it was _his_ hand. He didn't let go immediately and discreetly ran a calloused thumb over the top of her hand before releasing it. She gave him a small smile in response and turned to ensure her team was following as they headed back to the gate.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

The Virus

Chapter 4

..

Jack assured her everything he had brought with him from Earth was in the large pack on his back. It saddened her to think of all they had left behind. She knew somewhere in that pack there would be a photo of his son, Charlie. She wondered if he had brought along any other sentimental items the way she had. She supposed she and Cassie had the luxury of at least thirty minutes of packing at home before leaving, Jack would have been in a rush and he had been at his cabin not home.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, I'll just need the rest of the afternoon to get my things together." Daniel told them. He gave her another hug and a peck on the check before heading back to the camp.

"Everyone ready?" Jack stood beside her and her team not far behind stood talking to each other. She suddenly wondered when she had begun thinking of him as _Jack_ and whether she would keep doing so. Normally even in her mind he was _Colonel_ or _Sir_. She decided she could worry about that later, they had more pressing issues. She used the DHD to dial their temporary home, Palla. She had been gone a few hours now and she was anxious to get back to Cassie and reassure her they were fine.

As soon as she walked through the wormhole she saw Cassie. The girl had clearly been waiting and the smile on her face almost brought Sam to tears.

"Cassie!" She opened her arms and the girl ran so fast into them she almost knocked them both backwards.

"I am so happy to see you." Cassie stepped back and looked over at Jack. "Jack!" She yelled and ran full-tilt into him next. He was more prepared though and didn't even wobble when the girl threw herself at him.

"Long time no see Cass." He smiled over the girls head at Sam. She smiled back and her heart suddenly felt full. For the first time in a long time she felt like things might just be okay. Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and Cassie were fine. She refused to think about the rest of the people she cared about that had been left on Earth. There was a time to grieve, and now was not it. Now was the time to celebrate what little they had going for them.

General Hammond arrived next and she saw the pure relief written all over his face. She nudged Cassie and they both headed away while the General spoke to Jack.

"How does it feel?" Cassie threw a cheeky grin up at Sam. "Did he kiss you?"

"Cassie!" She admonished. "He's still my CO." She let out a little laugh. "It feels really, really good. Daniel is okay too and he will arrive here tomorrow."

"I bet you wanted to kiss him." Sam rolled her eyes. _Teenagers!_ She thought ruefully.

"So anything exciting happen while I was gone?" They chattered their way down to their tent and Sam dumped her pack and gun inside. Cassie put the kettle over the fire they had made outside their tent and sat down on the hard ground beside it.

"We need logs like the General has." Sam mused aloud. Cassie looked up at her like she was crazy.

"Do you _know_ how heavy they are?"

"Between the two of us we should manage." She found her eyes drawn to the other end of the camp where General Hammond and the Colonel were still talking. _Back to the Colonel, not Jack_. She realized that the moment they had returned and she had seen General Hammond the little bubble she had been in while on the other planet had popped. She couldn't call him Jack, she couldn't hug him or kiss him or do any of the things that she wanted to because technically he was _still_ her superior. She sighed internally and turned to look at the forest a few feet from their position. Cassie groaned from her spot by the fire.

"I don't want to move any logs!" The girls tone was whiney and Sam decided to give up while she was ahead. Maybe the Colonel would help her move a log or two when he came to visit them. "Coffee?" Cassie's voice was back to normal and she had a slightly apologetic smile on her face so Sam nodded gratefully and headed to their tent to get their coffee. She dreaded to think what would happen when they ran out, she was definitely going to go through caffeine withdrawal.

..

"Hello ladies," the _hello_ was drawn out and she felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. The Colonel had clearly finished speaking to General Hammond and had decided to come see them. She looked up and another wave of relief flooded through her. She couldn't believe she had him back already. The past two weeks had felt more like months – but really… her first venture off the planet and she found him! Well, technically he found her… She couldn't have wished for more.

"Hey Jack," Cassie patted the ground between herself and Sam. "Coffee?" Sam wondered how many times Cassie was going to ask that in one day.

"Sure," he dropped his back with a thud and then slowly lowered himself to the ground with a groan. He took the mug the girl held out to him and raised it to his lips his eyes peering over the mug at Sam. A long moment passed and she again felt like everything around them was fading. He had always been able to do that to her and it sent a shiver up her spine.

"Can you two stop making eyes at each other and listen to me?" She and the Colonel's heads turned simultaneously to the teen. "Good, now you are listening…" Cassie rolled her eyes and let out a little laugh. It was the first time Sam had heard her laugh in two weeks and it made her heart swell. "Now that Jack's here, he can help you get a log or two to put around our fire."

"Can't a guy catch a break? I only just arrived and you are already putting me to work!" He grumbled.

"It's okay Cass, I can probably drag one over by myself later." She stared daggers at her. The Colonel looked exhausted, there was no way she was making him help her with such a small task.

"I'll help once I've set up my new… _home_." He patted his pack next to him.

"Sam will help you set it up." Cassie told him and bounced to her feet. "I'm going to go down to the stream with Sophie and Tara to wash." She patted Sam on the head like she would a dog and then headed off. She and the Colonel watched her go.

"I'm perfectly capable of putting up my own tent." He told her. He stretched out his long legs and placed his hands behind him, rolling his shoulders and tilting his head back. She watched his every move as discreetly as she could but he seemed to feel her eyes on him and he looked down at her with an amused expression on his face. "Did ya' miss me much?" She tried to find a funny response but her sense of humor seemed to have all but disappeared.

"Yes…" She answered sincerely, and then added a quiet 'sir' to the end just to make it a little less _meaningful._ He sat forward a little at her response and opened his mouth as if to say something before closing it again and pressing his lips together. Nervously, she bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all.

"You can drop the Sir for the moment." He shrugged. "I don't think we will be working together in the same capacity again."

"Okay," she agreed and tipped her mug back and drained the last of her coffee licking her lips appreciatively. As with her thoughts earlier, she had better make the most of every coffee she had before they ran out.

"How did you get out?" She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about Earth but he had started the ball rolling really - by bringing up the fact that SG-1 was no longer. Something in her stirred but she pushed it away, she couldn't dwell on the past right now.

"I managed to get Walter to let me in." He grinned. "I have my ways, you know me." She blanched.

"Are you serious? They let you in after the lockdown had been put in place?" She couldn't believe it.

"Well I didn't _exactly_ walk through the front door."

"You snuck in?"

"Yup." He seemed proud and she should have been appalled but she couldn't help but smile. She didn't care how he did it to be honest, she was just too happy to have him here next to her.

"When Walter found me he nearly had a heart attack." The Colonel had a faraway look in his eyes for a moment as if he were looking back at his memories. "He ended up letting me go to the infirmary to be tested. I think I made it to the gate room with about three seconds to spare." They were quiet for a moment while Sam digested his story and he finished his coffee. "I told you I would make it… didn't I?" He put his empty mug down.

"Yes you did. Didn't doubt you for a moment." She quipped. _I only spent the past two weeks fretting you had died, or that I would never find out which planet you ended up on if you had escaped._

"You look tired." He commented his eyes tracing her face.

"I haven't been sleeping all that well." She admitted.

"Well I'm going to set up my tent. Any place you can recommend?" He looked around at the tents around them.

"That's our tent." She pointed to her and Cassie's tent. "You could set up near us… uh… so you can share our fire… and Cassie will be pleased to have you near." _And so will I_. She finished silently. He looked at her for a moment as if reading her mind but she managed to keep a straight face.

"Okie dokie, sounds good." He rose to his feet and swung his heavy pack up from the ground and onto his back with a grunt. "You should nap, Sam." She looked up in surprise at both the concerned tone of voice and also the use of her first name.

"I'm going to sleep fine from now on." She smiled up at him.

"Me too." He told her before heading away to set up his tent.

**TBC.**

**Authors Note: **Okay, I really should head back to reality now. This will be the last chapter for tonight!


	5. Chapter 5

The Virus

Chapter 5

..

Once the Colonel had finished setting up his tent he headed back down to see the General. Sam used the time while Cassie was gone to tidy up their tent a little. There was a fair amount of space between their bed and the others but it was getting cluttered already.

Their _roommates_ Tara and Sophie were lovely. One had worked in the infirmary at Cheyenne Mountain and the other was a member of SG-4. Cassie had really hit it off with the other ladies and Sam hoped now that she was less distracted she would get to know them a little better.

"Saaaaaaam!" She had just finished piling Cassie's clothes neatly into their corner when she heard the girl's voice outside.

"Yeeeeesssss!" She called back, mimicking the girl's voice.

"Oh, there you are." Cassie poked her head into the tent her eyes roving over the now tidy interior appreciatively. "Sweet, you cleaned up!"

"Your turn next." Sam told her firmly.

"Of course." Cassie agreed. "Tara and Sophie want to head over to the village for a bit. Do you want to come with us?"

"I think I should go wash." She looked down at her military garb. "-and change." Cassie scrunched up her nose.

"Yeah your _outfit_ isn't very flattering." Sam rolled her eyes. "I'll catch you at dinner then."

Sam chose a pair of jeans and a V necked t-shirt and tugged her sneakers out from the bottom of the bag. She had taken to wearing her military issue boots but they were a pain to get on and off. She found her towel and placed that in her bag along with the clothes. She looked down at her single bar of soap… it might have to last her a long time and she had hesitated in using it thus far. She shrugged and tossed that into the bag too. She tried to tell herself it wasn't because the Colonel was back. But on the walk over to the stream she had to admit she wanted to smell nice and feel _human_ again because of him.

In the first few days on the planet General Hammond had set in place some rules to make things easier on everyone. The stream wound through the forest and they had one section for the women to bathe in and the other for the men. She slipped and slid her way down the little bank to the women's section of the stream and smiled at the sight. The water was cold but clear and clean, and best of all she had it to herself. She and Cassie had bathed here numerous times and had discovered a deep enough spot that they could actually swim a little. She began stripping off her clothes until she was standing at the edge of the water in only her sports bra and panties. She took a deep breath preparing herself for the cold and stepped in. Immediately goose bumps raised on her arms and she shivered the hand holding her bar of soap tightened and the bar almost got squeezed right out into the water.

"_Fuck_!" She uttered the swear word and then nearly leapt in fright at the voice behind her.

"Swearing now Major?" Her arms immediately crossed protectively in front of her chest and she turned back slightly so that he couldn't see her front.

"Colonel! This is the women's area for bathing." She felt a flush creep up her neck and to her cheeks.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." He responded. "I can leave if you like." She frowned and looked back at the water. She didn't particularly want him standing there watching her bathe, this could get incredibly awkward.

"Uh… Sir… I'd rather…" She trailed off and looked back at him.

"What if I face away while I talk?" She let out a sigh. She could tell him to leave but really she wasn't _that_ bothered by him being there.

"Fine." She waited until he had come down the bank and settled himself on the shore his back to her - facing the tree line. She wondered why he had so brazenly come down while she was half-naked and not even batted an eyelash. "Is everything okay?" She kept walking into the water trying to control the shivers that kept running through her. She was going to have to get used to this cold water.

"I've been talking to the General." She gasped as the water reached her stomach and covered her mouth quickly. _Damn him_ she wished she was doing this alone. She was glad he couldn't see her front as her nipples were reacting to the cold in the only way expected.

"And?" She prompted. "Actually, hold on." She took another deep breath and this time dove under the water into the pool she and Cassie had found. When she rose to the surface she turned to face him and was pleased to see his eyes still remained on the tree line and not on her. "Ok, continue." She began rubbing the soap on the parts of her body submerged and was pleased to find her body was beginning to get accustomed to the temperature of the water and she had finally stopped shivering.

"I asked if he was going to organize a team to begin looking for possible planets for us to use as a new Alpha site… But he said that people needed time to recover." The Colonel sounded frustrated. "So he said not for another few weeks… and going back to Earth was not on the table at all."

"I figured as much." She told him seriously. How could he expect everyone to just jump into motion and carry on with life straight away?

"You did?" She glanced up when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. He turned to face her a surprised look on his face.

"Don't you want to get out there and _do_ something?" He asked her.

"Not yet, no." She frowned. "Turn around!" He rolled his eyes, but did as she told him. "We have all been through so much Sir, I think the General is right. People need a chance to grieve and come around to the idea that in all likelihood we can never go back to Earth." The Colonel was silent so she took the time to tilt her head back and rub soap into her hair and quickly rinse it out.

"I just don't want to sit around on my hands, you know?"

"Just…" She rubbed soap on her face and then dunked her head under again to rinse it. "-treat it like a holiday I guess." He let out a small bark of laughter at this.

"You don't even know how to take a break!" He told her. She smirked. This was true. How many times over the past seven years had he told her to get a life?

"I'm not saying it will be easy." She began making her way back to the shore. "I do think it's necessary though." She sighed. "Well, since you're here… do you think you could hand me my towel?" She stood in the shallow water up to her ankles and held a hand out ready to take her towel. He picked it up and turned to face her. She kept her arms across her chest and her eyes on his. He seemed incapable of keeping his eyes on her face though and she blushed as they lowered.

"Uh… Sir…" She waved the hand she had outstretched to get his attention.

"Sorry," he mumbled and took the few steps to reach her and handed her the towel. She quickly wrapped it around herself and stepped out of the water, tossing the bar of soap in the general direction of her bag.

"You came all the way down here to tell me this?" She raised an eyebrow. His eyes were still not on her face and it was starting to irritate her. "It couldn't wait until dinner?" She tried again. He finally looked up at her. She noted the dilated pupils and a rush of desire ran through her. _No, not allowed. Don't. Not good._

"I guess I just…" He sighed and rubbed a hand tiredly over his face. "I don't like letting you out of my sight just yet." She was shocked at his honesty. Very rarely had he admitted anything like this to her. She ducked her head, suddenly unsure how to respond.

"I feel the same." She whispered. "It's strange…" She trailed off. How much she had missed him? How he was her CO and he was standing there in front of her while she stood half naked wrapped in a towel? The whole scenario was bizarre.

"I'll let you get dressed. Sorry for interrupting you." He spun on his heel and headed away.

She shivered from the cold and headed up to her pack. As she dried herself off she tried to figure out what had just happened. She didn't want to make assumptions… Just because he missed her, because he was worried about losing her again and because he had checked her out – didn't mean anything between them was changing. Hell over the years all three things had happened at some point. She supposed the difference was they had both voiced a lot of _feelings_ today. She was mostly worried about the abrupt way he left, she half wished she had stopped him. She wasn't sure she was ready for any serious talks with him though… so the half that _didn't_ want to stop him had won out - as usual. Talking about whatever was between them had been a no-go zone for such a long time that she wasn't sure either of them would ever be able to broach the subject…

**TBC.**


	6. Chapter 6

The Virus

Chapter 6

**Authors Note:** I had to add some lighter stuff in here. I hope it's not too fluffy! My brain wouldn't allow me to skip out the last scene.

..

When she returned to camp Cassie had still not arrived back. She couldn't see the Colonel anywhere either. She knew she should go and speak to some of the other Earth refugees but found all she wanted to do was sleep. She slipped into her and Cassie's bed feeling relieved to be out of prying eyes, warm, dry and comfortable. She sleepily wondered where the Colonel had gone and whether they should have talked about things further. She supposed she would find out later.

..

She woke to the sound of laughter and it took her a moment to remember where she was. The flickering glow from the fire outside danced across the front of the tent and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up. She wasn't sure how long she had slept but the scent of food made her stomach grumble. She crawled out of the tent and found Cassie, Tara, Sophie and the Colonel seated on large logs around the fire. Obviously someone had found the energy to drag them over.

"Good morning Sunshine," the Colonel winked at her. So they were pretending their earlier conversation hadn't happened? Fine with her.

"Very funny Sir," she sat down beside him and he immediately handed her a bowl. She looked down and screwed up her nose. _Soup_, again.

"There is bread tonight too!" Cassie handed Sam a chunk of bread. "We bought it off the villagers today." Cassie told her proudly.

"What did you buy it with?" Obviously Earth money was of no use to them.

"We bought it with Jewellery." Tara answered.

"Good idea." A comfortable silence fell over the group as they all sat lost in their own thoughts. There was the quiet murmur of other voices around the camp and a little breeze had picked up making the fire crackle. The moment she had finished soaking up the last of her soup with her bread and put it in her mouth the bowl was whisked from her hands and a stick was placed on her lap.

"Uh?" She swallowed the large mouthful with a wince. "What the hell?" Cassie didn't answer straight away but gave her a huge grin.

"Guess what Jack brought with him?"

"Beer!" Sam responded brightly.

"Do you really think I'd lug beer around in my pack?" He asked with a chuckle.

"No," she sighed theatrically. "It was just wishful thinking."

"Marshmallows!" He opened the packet and gave her first choice. She grinned and took a whole handful before handing the packet to an excited Cassie.

"Greedy," he muttered and elbowed her playfully in the ribs.

"I just know what Cassie is like…" She pointed to the girl who now had an entire lap full of marshmallows.

"Sorry, I can't help it." Cassie grinned. "I love them too much!"

"I know!" She and the Colonel spoke at the same time and both turned to each other in surprise. Sometimes she forgot that he knew Cassie almost as well as she did. The packet got handed back to the Colonel after the other ladies had taken their share and he frowned into the almost empty bag.

"Now that's not fair!" All the women around the fire remained quiet. Sam knew someone should offer to hand a couple back to him… but they were all intent on keeping their treat. "Fine!" His hand came seemingly out of nowhere and the handful in her lap disappeared. Whether it was purposeful or not she couldn't decide but his fingers had grazed her inner thigh a lot higher up than was really appropriate… which in turn set something off between her legs that really should not be happening… she felt her jaw drop in surprise.

"Hey!" She finally found her voice and lunged to grab them back from his hands. He moved his hands out of her way and began stabbing the marshmallows onto the end of his stick.

She stood up her hands falling to her hips and she gave him the fiercest look she could muster. He looked up at her and his hands suddenly stopped what they were doing and his whole face slackened. Clearly he hadn't expected her to fight him for them.

"Give them back!" She stepped forward into his space and he visibly flinched. She grinned and while he was distracted grabbed the remaining marshmallows. He had about 5 already skewered on his stick but this left her with… she sat back down and counted them. 6, she had one more than him!

"I win." She resisted the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him and used her stick to begin stabbing her own marshmallows. The colonel grumbled something under his breath next to her and she turned to Cassie to gloat. She found the girl was staring at Sam with the strangest smile on her face. "What?" She demanded, suddenly worried she had something on her face or stuck between her teeth.

"Just…" Cassie tilted her head. "Never mind." The girl put her stick into the fire with a little smile gracing her face. It was so nice to be smiling again. Sam wondered if Cassie's cheeks ached the way hers did. The muscles used for smiling hadn't been used in far too long, until today of course. She held her own stick into the fire and waited until the marshmallows were flaming before pulling the stick out. She blew them out and snuck a glance at the man next to her.

"Why did you murder your marshmallows?" He asked, looking truly offended.

"I like them like this." She stuck out her tongue and licked at the first marshmallow on her stick and then sucked out the sweet goodness inside the blackened exterior. His eyes widened and of course the moment she realized the affect she was having on him she decided it was time for a little payback. She sent her tongue on a slow course over her lips and then moved onto the next marshmallow. He seemed unable to look away and when she had reached her third marshmallow she couldn't keep it in any longer and she let out a giggle. It surprised _her_ almost as much as it seemed to surprise him.

"No giggling!" His response sounded automatic, his voice a little husky.

"This is payback." She whispered, leaning into his space a little. He looked down at her lap and back up to her face and then smirked.

"Alright, fairs fair." He told her.

**TBC..**


	7. Chapter 7

The Virus

Chapter 7

..

Sam dropped onto what she had claimed as _her_ log. Tara and Sophie had managed to acquire their own tent so she and Cassie had the tent and fire to themselves now, well the three of them did. The Colonel had joined her and Cassie for most their meals over the past few days. They had fallen into a routine and seemed to converge around the fire around the same time at breakfast, lunch and dinner - not that it had ever been discussed.

"How did the negotiations go today?" She looked across the fire to the Colonel who looked tired and grumpy.

"We got nowhere, as usual." _Definitely_ grumpy. She leant forward and put the kettle over the fire, pleased to find Cassie had remembered to fill it after lunch. It had become the girl's job to ensure they had plenty of water before night fell, traipsing down to the stream in the dark was not fun. "What did you do today?"

"We got in contact with the scientist team on PX3925." She pulled out two mugs and their dwindling coffee supply as she spoke. "They aren't getting very far on the cure unfortunately." She gave him a one shouldered shrug, she hadn't been surprised at the news. The team had only begun working on it three weeks earlier.

"What about a vaccination?" Sam picked up the steaming mugs and headed around the fire to his side so that she could hand him his mug. Before she could head back to her log his hand flew out and grabbed her wrist. "Sit next to me." She looked down in surprise. "I don't bite." He gave her his lopsided grin and her stomach flip flopped. Without a word she followed his orders and sat down.

"You don't bite huh?" She nudged him playfully in the ribs.

"Well… not often." They sat in silence for a while, thighs touching and every now and again his elbow would bump hers. She was enjoying the contact, however small it was and it took her a while to remember he had asked her a question.

"Vaccines are not the highest priority at the moment." She sighed. "We need to work on helping those that are sick before we can work on the prevention."

"Right, I knew that." She found herself staring into the flames, entranced. "Where is Cassie?" He suddenly asked.

"She's made friends with some of the villagers and they are having her over for dinner. She invited me but…" Sam trailed off. She wasn't sure why she hadn't gone, she just didn't feel very social after her day. She was desperately waiting for some positive news and the more days that passed with nothing the more depressed she felt.

"I know how you feel." She met his eyes and felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. Of course he knew how she felt… but while she had never been social as such – she was certainly more social than he had ever been.

"I wouldn't have minded using their bathroom, but I don't think they would have appreciated it if I had turned up to use their bathroom and then just left."

"It's the little things huh? I miss _real_ coffee." He held his mug up to prove his point. She looked down at her own half empty mug and had to agree. She had often snuck out of the base when she wasn't supposed to just to grab a coffee from the local café.

"Where is Daniel tonight?" She asked. He had also joined them for many of their meals. The Colonel jerked his head to the left in answer and she peered around him. The fire next to them was occupied by a few people she didn't know and one she did… the woman next to Daniel. She was an anthropologist by the name of Eva Harrison. She smiled knowingly at her CO. Daniel always made _lady_ friends – everywhere he went.

"I don't know how he does it!"

"It's his boyish charm." She chuckled.

"This is going to sound kind of strange." She turned to face him with what she hoped was an open expression on her face. The Colonel? Strange? Never. "But I want you to grab your sleeping bag and come with me." Her eyes widened.

"Uh… maybe you could tell me why?"

"Nothing inappropriate!" He insisted. "Just come with me, okay?"

"Okay." She trusted him. She probably trusted him more than anyone else in her life to be honest. Plus she was curious now. Sam folded her sleeping bag and tucked it under her arm. On exiting the tent she found the Colonel standing a few feet away his own sleeping bag in his arms.

"This way." He pointed to the trees.

"Really?" She cocked her head. In the dark?

"I have a flashlight." He pulled it out and switched it on. As they trudged through the long grass to the trees her curiosity peaked.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"You will see."

"I hate surprises."

"Shut up and keep walking." She was annoying him, perfect. He would break soon enough, she truly did hate surprises.

"Is that an order?"

"Yes."

He stopped so suddenly she walked straight into him. He turned around to steady her with his hands. She couldn't see him in front of her because the flashlight must have fallen and switched itself off. Without her sight all her other senses snapped to attention and she felt the warmth of his breath on her face, could smell _him_, and the feel of his hands clutching her forearms suddenly felt like a death grip. "Sir?" She whispered. She wasn't sure why she was whispering.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She felt his arms slip from her wrists, up her arms and one hand lifted to cup her face. She sucked in a breath but he quickly let go and she felt him take a step backwards. She heard him fumbling around for the fallen flashlight and she stood still trying to regain control of her breathing. Had that really just happened? She could have sworn his face had moved closer like… he was going to kiss her… but he wouldn't. They couldn't. _Why would he do that?_

"Alrighty," the light came back on and she stepped up next to him as if nothing strange had just happened.

"Where to now?" She asked.

"This way." He led them for what felt like hours but was probably less than thirty minutes until they reached a grassy clearing. "Here we are." He swept his arm out and bowed slightly. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. He stepped in front of her again though and once he reached the middle he lay down his sleeping bag and flopped onto his back, his hands behind his head. He was looking up at the stars! He looked up at her and gestured to the spot beside him.

She lay her sleeping bag next to his and matched his position, laying on her back. The view was spectacular. They lay for a long time without words and it wasn't until he rolled over to face her that words began spilling from her mouth.

"Colonel Fray was infected." She felt a pain in her chest as her memories came back. "I saw him in the isolation room before… before he died."

"Colonel Fray was a good man." The Colonel told her with a sad sigh.

"I had seen the news footage from all over the world… the rioting and looting and even pictures of people who had been infected with the virus… but nothing was as hard as seeing Colonel Fray. It was all too real. I mean… I knew him… but it was also being only on the other side of the glass and seeing him struggling like that… the seizures were horrific. They gave him enough sedative to knock out a horse but he still kept having fits." She paused and closed her eyes tightly trying to keep some semblance of control over her emotions. Everything was still so incredibly raw though. "It was the blood pooling in his throat that ended up killing him. He must have bit his tongue and he literally choked to death. Maybe he was one of the lucky ones… he was only on day two of the virus. Some people were aware and in agony for up to four days. I can't think of a more horrific way to die."

"I'm sorry you had to see that." In the moonlight she could see the sincerity in his face. She turned to face him, holding herself up on one elbow. He reached out and took her hand in his, entangling their fingers. It didn't feel wrong in this moment, it felt natural.

"As soon as he… passed… I went and got permission to bring Cassie in. General Hammond had of course begun organising our evacuation procedure. I'd been off-world when it first struck. I don't think anyone knew quite how fast it would spread." She trailed off. "I called you as soon as I reached my house and found Cassie waiting for me." He squeezed her hand, urging her to keep speaking. She licked her lips and finally asked the question that had been burning in the back of her mind. "Why didn't you go back to base as soon as you heard about the virus? Surely General Hammond called you days before I did."

"I had my phone turned off, I didn't get the General's message until earlier on the same day that you called me." He pressed his lips together as if trying to come up with an explanation. "I wasn't sure if I was going to evacuate." She felt the colour drain from her face. Was he telling her… he wanted to _die_? "I wasn't sure if I was infected. I'd been to dinner at the local sheriff's the night before and he came down with the virus the following day."

"You should have gone to get tested right away!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why hadn't he told her this over the phone?

"I should have." He at least admitted she was right. "If I was infected, I knew there was nothing anyone could do."

"Jack… you have people who _really_ care about you… you know that right?" Her heart ached as she spoke the words.

"Yes I do." He let go of her hand and rolled back onto his back. "I made a mistake, I should have gotten tested and… gone to the base right away." She shuffled over feeling the damp grass in the gap between their sleeping bags. She hesitated only a moment before snuggling into his side and wrapping one arm over his waist. He stiffened for a moment but then relaxed and wrapped his own arm around her shoulders tugging her closer.

"I'm glad you are okay, and Cassie's okay." She whispered feeling tears stinging her eyes.

For the past few weeks she had held back thoughts of Earth… of all the people left behind to die. She wanted to stay strong for Cassie and all those that _had_ escaped. But now she found herself picturing the lady who always served her at her local diner, her neighbours, her friends… and her family. She let the tears fall as she thought of her brother Mark, his wife and their two small children. She had called them after speaking with the Colonel on the phone but Mark had informed her they were all infected. She had thrown the phone at the wall after hanging up from him. Cassie had stood next to her in shock, she supposed anger was not something the girl had often seen in her. But anger was safer than grief. It wasn't until now, tucked up safely against her Colonel's side that she could finally let herself grieve for all that had been lost.

**TBC.**


	8. Chapter 8

The Virus

Chapter 8

..

She woke cold. It seemed they had both fallen asleep in the clearing and her clothing had become damp with the overnight dew. She had a crick in her neck from sleeping on a funny angle against the Colonel and she felt a rush of embarrassment as she realized they had slept together all night. Sure it wasn't like they had done anything inappropriate… but they were definitely crossing some kind of line.

"Morning," she mumbled and tried to extricate herself from his arms, but he just tugged her closer. "Uh, sir?" He cracked open one eye and looked down at her.

"Sorry," he released her and she sat up, rubbing her sore neck. The Colonel groaned and raised himself into a sitting position too. "I'm too old for this." He placed a hand on his lower back. If she wasn't already feeling guilty about sleeping in the arms of her CO she would have offered to give him a massage.

"I'm sore too." She admitted. They still hadn't met eyes and she assumed he was feeling uncomfortable with their current predicament too. "I should go find Cassie, she will be worried." She moved to stand but a hand on her arm stopped her. She turned her head slowly and met his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes searching hers for any sign that something wasn't right. She licked her lips nervously. She hadn't often cried in front of him and last night she had cried for a rather long time.

"I'm fine." She gave him a small smile and ducked her head. "Thanks for last night." She shifted uncomfortably. "I needed that." He let his hand travel down to her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go.

"Always." The intensity in his tone made her heart begin pounding in her chest.

"I'll see you later." She responded, pleased her voice sounded calm considering the emotions trying to fight their way to the surface. She desperately wanted to slide over and wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him senseless. Instead, she rose to her feet and began folding her sleeping bag. He stayed sitting on the ground just watching her. She felt self-conscious and she gave him an awkward smile before heading away from him. Life could be so damn cruel.

..

Sam returned to a quiet camp. It must still have been early in the morning as there were few people up and about. She took the time to unzip her sleeping bag and hang it on their make-shift washing line. Cassie had made it between their tent and the Colonel's a few days ago. Before that they had been hanging clothes and towels off the strings attached to their tent.

"Sam is that you?" She heard Cassie's voice, a little muffled since she was still inside the tent. Sam unzipped the flap and crawled in, taking a seat on her side of the tent.

"Sorry did I wake you?" She looked at the sleeping girl and her heart felt full. Cassie's hair was so long now it was a tangled mess around her head, her sleepy brown eyes showed the relief at seeing Sam there. She must have been worried when Sam didn't return last night.

"It's okay," she yawned and slowly sat up. "Can I ask where you were last night?" Cassie began running her fingers through her hair as she spoke.

"I…" Sam pressed her lips together. "I was with… Colonel O'Neill." Her lips twitched into what probably looked like a grimace more than a smile and she covered her face in embarrassment. How would she explain what happened? She trusted Cassie to keep it to herself… but really was it fair to make her keep secrets?

"Oh," Cassie smirked. "In his tent?"

"Uh, no." She let out a nervous laugh. "We – uh – we went to do some star gazing. We accidentally fell asleep."

"Uh huh," Cassie finished finger brushing her hair and threw a cheeky grin in Sam's direction before crawling out of the tent.

"Nothing happened," Sam hurried to follow the girl. "It was just… I needed…" She trailed off. She had no idea what she was trying to say. "How was dinner?" Changing the topic would be the easiest option here. She set about collecting bits of wood from their little stockpile beside the tent and lit their fire so they could boil water for coffee. They really needed a gas cooker.

"It was great! I can't believe how much I missed _real_ food…" Cassie prattled on about her evening and finished by telling Sam how they let her use the bathroom.

"Oh a _shower_! I am incredibly jealous." Sam laughed and began spooning coffee into three mugs. It wasn't until she had poured the boiling water into hers and Cassie's mugs that she realized she had made a coffee for the Colonel too.

"Good morning ladies." Perfect timing. She poured water in his mug too and she handed it up to him as he walked past.

"Morning," Cassie said brightly. She raised an eyebrow at him as he sat down on his log. Sam looked between the two trying to figure out their silent conversation. The Colonel cocked his head to the side and raised both his eyebrows in response. Cassie harrumphed and fussed around with their chilly-bin which they had taken to storing their food supplies in. "Ugh, what I would do for pancakes!" Cassie sighed as she set three bowls on the ground and began pouring cereal. "Looks like this is our last morning of cereal… and the coffee situation isn't looking too good either."

"I'll have a chat with General Hammond and see if we can go off-world _shopping_ today." The Colonel told Cassie.

"Can I come?" The girl asked her eyes suddenly brightening.

"No way!" Sam answered before he had a chance to say anything. "It's not safe."

"Sam!" Cassie frowned. "You realize I'm technically an adult now right?"

"If you had military training then I'd let you go, but you do not." Sam told her firmly.

"I took a self-defence class." Jack was clearly trying not to laugh and failing miserably. Cassie was staring daggers in his direction and Sam decided her task would now lie at keeping the peace between the two of them.

"Look Cass… we will get you trained okay? I think it would be beneficial considering everything that has happened. _But_ until then – you are staying right where you are." Cassie agreed grumpily and stormed off insisting she was having breakfast with Daniel. She threw a "_at least he treats me like an adult"_ over her shoulder.

"Oh boy," the Colonel started laughing. "Go mommy!" Sam rolled her eyes and dug into her breakfast. She hated having to be so firm with Cassie but she was not willing to put the girl at risk. She may not be her mother but she was the closest thing to it.

"You were a great help." She found she was smiling though, his amusement at the situation was contagious. "Can I come shopping with you?" She gave him the puppy-dog eyes and he stared at her for much longer than necessary before answering, making her squirm.

"Sure, go get changed." He finally told her with a smirk.

"Yes Sir." She grinned. It would be nice to get off-world. She rinsed out her bowl and mug and suddenly had a thought as she watched him head towards his tent. "Hey, let's take Daniel." He turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised.

"You want to take an archaeologist _shopping_?"

"He's good with people." She told him.

"Fine, ask him then." He pretended to be grumpy but she knew he wanted the young man to join them.

..

Once she was dressed and had put on her heavy vest and slung her sidearm over her shoulder she poured water over their fire and sat on the log waiting for the Colonel to finish getting ready. She didn't have to wait long and had to stifle a laugh as he came hopping out of his tent tugging at one of his boots.

"Are you okay Sir?" He looked up, seeming surprised to see her and finally managed to pull his boot on properly.

"Fine." He grumbled and headed over to her. He sat down to tie his boots and she hid her smile by turning away and looking down the camp at all the other refugees. It was then she saw Daniel and she waved him over.

"Hey Daniel, we are going to head off-world to get supplies. Are you coming with us?" Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and looked down at the two of them.

"Okay, coffee is top of the list." He smiled. "I'll go get changed and meet you at the gate."

"I guess we should get permission now?" She looked over at the Colonel.

"I'm sure he will agree. What can go wrong? It's SG-1 we're talking about here." They both laughed at this. Sure SG-1 had saved the world on more than one occasion – no exaggerations there either – but they also had a habit of getting themselves into very _unusual_ situations to say the least.

**TBC…**


	9. Chapter 9

The Virus

Chapter 9

..

They arrived outside General Hammond's tent to an argument between Major Harding and Major Tanner. She heard the words _earth_ and _ridiculous_ but couldn't catch anymore as both of them went silent at the sight of Colonel O'Neill.

"Good morning." She offered, hoping it would ease some of the tension.

"Good morning Major Carter." Major Tanner answered with a grim smile. Major Harding ignored them both and walked away.

"Oh Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter. Just who I was looking for." General Hammond emerged from around the side of his tent and she stood to attention next to the Colonel. "Where is Daniel Jackson?" Sam looked towards the gate but couldn't make him out, he must have still been getting prepared.

"He will be along soon." Colonel O'Neill replied and sat down on one of the General's logs. Sam followed suit and sat next to him and the General took the log opposite.

"Well when he arrives I have a mission for the three of you." He looked as serious as ever and Sam felt the military side of her snap to attention. She sat primly with her hands in her lap as they waited. Colonel O'Neill had his usual relaxed posture and she envied him that. She wondered when or _if_ she reached the status of Colonel… would she be as relaxed around the General as he was?

"Daniel Jackson!" The General was facing the other side of the camp so he saw the man first and waved him over. Daniel took the only remaining log and dropped his pack beside him.

"Good, now you are all here… I have chosen the three of you to head back to Earth." Sam sat up straighter. Back to earth? Already?

"Is that really a good idea?" Daniel frowned. "It's not that I don't want to go of course… but won't we risk being infected, or bringing the virus back with us?"

"You will all be wearing the highest level contagion suits and we will have you gate from here to an uninhabited planet that we have set up as a sort of isolation area… from there you will gate to Earth. When you gate back you will be tested by the team of medical staff on site and remain there for a night just to be safe."

"Okay," Daniel nodded. "That makes sense."

"What will our objectives be?" The Colonel asked.

"I want you to simply report back your findings. Obviously nothing can be brought through the gate until we can set up some sort of decontamination system like we had when we evacuated. I just need to know what is happening back…" he trailed off for a moment. "…_home_." He finished with a frown.

"What if we come across survivors?" Sam asked. She thought of Mark and wondered whether there would be a way to contact him once they were back on Earth. She would have to head back to camp to alert Cassie to her night away… she would pick up her cell phone which she had switched off to conserve the battery and left tucked under her pillow.

"I'm afraid we can't bring anyone back yet. We would need to test them _before_ heading through the gate. Further down the track we hope to have Cheyenne Mountain decontaminated and back up and running."

"Yes Sir." She rose to her feet. "Permission to tell Cassie?" The General agreed. She looked at the rest of her team but they were both clearly lost in their own thoughts. She had plenty running through her own mind right now. She was shocked… they had started out the day planning on heading off-world but never in her wildest dreams did she think they would be heading back to Earth already!

..

She took a deep breath and looked first at Daniel and then Colonel O'Neill before stepping through the gate. She felt herself falling on the other side and before she could figure out why she landed with a hard thump on the ground. She heard the boys making their own thuds as they hit the ground beside her. She dragged herself to her feet and discovered they were standing in the dark. She fumbled around the head piece of her suit for the light but Daniel beat her to it.

Daniel's light showed that they were in fact in Cheyenne Mountain. The ramp was on its side and she fleetingly wondered how the hell that could happen but the when her eyes took in the rest of the room all she felt was a wave of shock run through her. She had never expected to see the gate room in such disarray. Shattered glass carpeted the floor and there was smoke curling up from debris near the blast doors which stood wide open. She finally found her own light and switched it on and took a single step forward and then stopped. If the gate room was like this… did she really _want_ to see the rest of Earth? She hadn't had time to think much about what they would find since they had set off almost immediately after being briefed that morning.

"Are you okay Carter?" She heard Colonel O'Neill's voice come through the little speaker in her head piece.

"Yes Sir."

"Let's get this over with." She followed behind him towards the door and she heard Daniel fall in step behind her.

The way out of the mountain was long and painful. There was no power so they had to use the stairs and ladders between levels to reach the top. It took so long she almost quit half way up. The Colonel insisted next time she get the power up and running because there was no way in hell he was doing all this climbing again. She felt sorry for him – with his dodgy knees the climb would have been far harder on him.

The view from the top of the mountain was nothing less than horrific. At first she thought there were low storm clouds above them but after a moment she realized it was smoke. There were fires as far as the eye could see.

"Do we go any further Sir?" She asked, hoping he would say no. Daniel grabbed her gloved hand and she turned to smile gratefully at him. It was hard for her to believe a matter of weeks ago the view here was very, _very_ different. She imagined both men were feeling similarly shocked and depressed at the sight before them.

"We need to at least check out the nearest city." Colonel O'Neill finally answered. "We will take my truck." He began heading down the hill towards the car park and she followed with wobbly legs. She was glad that part way up their climb he had allowed them to leave their firearms and continue on with just their zat guns. She was exhausted from just carrying the bare necessities in her pack and zat gun, she couldn't imagine having to climb all that way with a heavy firearm as well.

..

It was a hard drive into the city. There were cars parked haphazardly across the road and at first they contemplated shifting them but ended up just off-roading it a little to get around them, thankfully Colonel O'Neill's truck was suited for this.

Once they reached the first lot of shops Sam wished she had stayed back on Palla. Tears stung her eyes. They had seen bodies covered in blood in the cars on the way but that was nothing to the bodies lying on the sidewalk. It seemed almost surreal. She felt like maybe she was trapped in one of those horrific apocalyptic films that Teal'c used to make her watch on movie night.

"My god," she whispered aloud. Colonel O'Neill parked his car in the middle of the road when it was impossible to drive any further. Litter, debris, cars and bodies were all over the road. Some of the cars were burnt out and there was glass all over the road too.

"I'm going to take a little look." The Colonel swung open his door and she remained in the passenger seat frozen to the spot. It was then she remembered her cell phone and she pulled it out of her pack and switched it on. She shed her first tear at the sound her phone made starting up. It reminded her of what life had been like. Living on Palla for the past few weeks had been like a holiday and this was the cold, hard reality of coming _home_.

She heard the rear door open and watched as Daniel also exited the truck. She saw him head into a nearby shop and she dialled Mark's home number. It was no surprise when the call wouldn't connect and she pressed her lips together taking in a deep breath through her nostrils and switched the phone back off again. She wondered if she would ever find out for sure if her brother and his family had all died.

"Sam," she looked out the truck window and saw Colonel O'Neill on the other side the glass of his head piece pressed against her window a silly smile on his face. "Come on…" She looked away for a moment and gathered herself together before agreeing to get out.

"Where do you want me to look, Sir?" Once she got out of the car he stepped next to her and nudged her arm slightly.

"Follow me, Carter." She followed him with glazed eyes as she tried hard not to look at the bloated bodies they were dodging. She was glad the suit filtered the air so the smell wasn't as horrific as it would have been without it. They popped into the first few stores they came across and wandered around, so far there was no sign of survivors. She eyed the shelves which were mostly empty and it wasn't until they reached the supermarket that she had the sudden urge to take something. She looked over at her CO, he seemed to be finding the same thing. She watched as he picked a single packet of crackers off the ground. The packet was almost flat as it had been crushed beneath the feet of the panicked people.

"Do you think we could take anything? We could leave it near the gate and come back for it when we are allowed to bring things through?" She eyed the signs above the aisles. _Coffee_ would be good.

"Hell yes." He gave her the thumbs up. "You take the right half, I'll take the left."

..

They both had shopping trollies full by the time they met at the front of the store. Daniel was leaning against the front of the Colonel's car so they wheeled their trollies down towards him. Pickings had been limited since the store had been looted but they had managed to gather together as much as they could. She had even managed to track down coffee.

"Hey guys," Daniel waved as they approached.

"Just did a little shopping, ya know?" Her CO joked as he pressed a button on his key ring to open his boot. "We'll leave it in the truck for when we are allowed to bring things through the gate."

"I got a few things myself." She peered in the back seat as she walked past and saw a couple of baskets filled with food.

"Brilliant." Colonel O'Neill told him. They were all putting on their 'happy' voices but really things couldn't get any grimmer. They were loading stolen food into their truck while people they had once lived with lay dead all around them.

The trip back to Cheyenne Mountain was a very quiet one. She seemed to have gotten over her tearful moment and she just felt cold and numb inside her bulky suit. They had done as asked and checked out Earth - as much as they could anyway. There was no way they were staying here over night and daylight was fading fast.

"Apparently they have set up temporary showers on the isolation site." Daniel told them suddenly.

"Oh, that will be heaven." She told him, feeling her spirits lift slightly.

..

The 'showers' were divided by curtains and she slipped behind her curtains which reached just above her shoulders and then fell to her ankles. If she wasn't so excited to have a shower she may have been embarrassed that there was only a curtain between her and the boys. She noticed her CO had taken the curtained shower next to her and she wondered briefly if he had done it on purpose.

She slipped off her clothes gratefully and slid them out from under the curtain with her foot so they rested beside her towel outside. She pressed the button as she had been directed and an appreciative sigh escaped her immediately as the water hit her back. They had rigged up a surprisingly good system for the showers and the water pressure wasn't half bad. She wondered how long she was allowed to stay in here because with the way she felt right now she didn't want to _ever_ leave. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back so the water ran over her head and when she turned so the spray hit her front she suddenly remembered that she wasn't _really_ alone. She snuck a quick look next door to her and saw the Colonel's head.

"I could stay here forever," she told him with grin. He turned to look her in the eyes and she nearly choked as she took in a deep breath. He looked sexier than she had possibly ever seen him. Water dripped from his hair and she could see the top of his shoulders glistening. He had the same look of bliss on his face she probably had moments earlier and before she could stop herself she began imagining what he might look like behind the curtain, naked. Something must have showed on her face because he smirked.

"I'm pretty sure I can _hear_ your thoughts right now Major." He winked before turning so that the water hit his back. He tilted his head back and ran a hand through his hair. She watched entranced as his hand slid down over his shoulder and then disappeared out of view. He tilted his head towards her again and she bit her lip. His eyes were dark and she realized that they were about to criss-cross over that line again but she just couldn't help herself. Hell, they had been through enough lately and if they couldn't be together then they could at least have a little fun.

Sam tilted her own head so that she could run her fingers through her hair. She slipped her hand down over her face and dragged her fingers over her lips and along her shoulders and down between her breasts, not that he could see from her shoulders down… and then she glanced over to see his reaction. He had an intense look on his face now, his smirk had disappeared.

"Fuck," he whispered and glanced over at Daniel on his other side, she looked over too. Daniel was totally oblivious thankfully and she decided she should probably just grab the shampoo and soap she had brought in with her and get the shower over with or things were going to get way out of hand.

"Idiot," she whispered to herself as she kept her eyes away from her CO and continued her shower. She shouldn't have done that, _he _shouldn't have done that. They were playing with fire.

She managed to finish her shower, dry herself and dress without even one look at the man next to her. Once she had finished dressing she finally looked over and found his curtained shower empty. She heaved a sigh of relief and headed towards the large tents that had been set up for them to sleep in. It was beginning to get dark on this planet too and all she wanted to do was collapse onto the cot that she had been given and pass out.

**TBC.**


	10. Chapter 10

The Virus

Chapter 10

..

She woke to the creaking of the bed across from her. She was surprised to find Colonel O'Neill's eyes on her face. She gave him a smile but he didn't return it, just continued staring. Uncomfortable she shifted beneath the blankets and brought her hands up to tuck under her pillow. Why was he staring like that?

"Are you okay Sir?" She whispered. She wasn't sure if Daniel was still asleep in the cot on the other side of her CO.

"No." He grunted out and turned onto his back with his hands behind his head. "Daniel's already up." For the millionth time in her life she wondered if he could read her mind.

"What's wrong Sir?" She asked. He made a noise in his throat but didn't answer. She would have loved to stay lying in the cot for longer but now that he wasn't speaking to her she felt incredibly uncomfortable. She dragged herself into a sitting position and stretched her arms above her head before sliding her legs over the side. It was then she chanced another look at her grumpy CO and found his eyes watching her every move. She looked down at the tank top and shorts she had slept in and back up at him.

"I actually think you might kill me one day." He sat up and swung his own legs over the side of his cot before stomping out of the tent in a huff. She wasn't quite sure what had just happened so she just stared out the tent after him in shock.

"Do you want a coffee?" Daniel poked his head in and she gazed at him for a moment not comprehending his words. "Sam?" He stepped in. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she shook her head to clear it. "Coffee would be great, thanks." Daniel hovered near her obviously knowing something was wrong but unsure whether he should pry. "I'm fine." She told him again, this time with a smile. "Someone just woke up on the wrong side of the bed." She gestured to Colonel O'Neill's bed.

"Ah yes, I saw that look on his face. What'd you do?" He chuckled.

"Nothing." She sighed. "I'll get dressed, you go make me that coffee okay?" Daniel gave her one last concerned look and then headed out.

She dressed quickly and shoved all her gear into her pack and made the cot bed so that her area was tidy. Before heading out for coffee she made the boys beds too and it wasn't until she finished tucking in Daniel's covers that she realized what she was doing. She wasn't just tidying up, she was avoiding. She didn't want to go out in case she had to face Colonel O'Neill, which was stupid really. She hadn't done anything to make him angry so she had no reason to hide away from him. She felt her own temper flare slightly at the thought and decided she deserved to have coffee and a big breakfast since she had skipped dinner the night before, he could go and sulk somewhere else if he was still grumpy when she reached the 'mess tent'.

The moment she entered the tent the Colonel left. Daniel shrugged and pointed to the fold-out table and chairs. There was a steaming bowl of porridge and a coffee mug. She sat down gratefully.

"You were certainly right about Jack." Daniel told her and sat across from her with his own coffee mug.

"Mm hmm," she responded between mouthfuls.

"Maybe he's in pain from yesterday's climb." Daniel mused aloud. She kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner. That was definitely a possibility. Although that had nothing to do with _her_… it might explain his grumpy mood in general. As she drained the last of her coffee Colonel O'Neill re-appeared in the tent entrance. She looked over cautiously.

"Uh… Carter… A word?" She put her mug down and stood up. Maybe she would finally find out what the hell she had done wrong.

"What's up Sir?" She fell into step beside him.

"Let's take a walk." He sounded less grumpy and she felt herself relax slightly beside him.

"Yes Sir."

"Ugh, can you… drop the Sir for five minutes. This is kind of personal."

"Oh… sorry S-" she bit her tongue before the _sir_ slipped out. They walked in silence a fair way from the camp and once they were out of sight he finally spoke.

"I need to…" He stopped walking and ran a hand over his face. "I can't…" He stomped his foot in frustration. "For crying out loud." Before she could speak or even move he had tugged her over to him. She stiffened in surprise her eyes widening in shock. He shifted her closer still and it was then she finally realized what was happening. He was going to kiss her. He was going to fucking KISS her. She immediately wound her arms up and around his neck because he looked so damn unsure of himself when she had stiffened in his arms. The moment he felt her hands at his neck she felt him also relax against her. He lowered his face and then when his lips were tantalizingly close he pulled away slightly. "Is… are you okay?" His eyes held hers and she felt a bubble of laughter rise to her throat and before she could stop it she was laughing. She started laughing so hard tears sprung to her eyes and she had to hold him just to stay upright. "Not… quite what I expected…" He muttered but he was smiling.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" She gasped out and managed to squash down the remaining laughter until her teary eyes were steady on his. "Seven fucking years and you ask me if I'm okay?" She had her hands fisted in his shirt and before he could speak she reached up on tip toes and pressed her lips gently against his and then stepped back. "Never, ever ask me if it's okay to kiss me again!" She grinned.

"Carter… Sam…" He still seemed unable to speak so he stepped forward and his hands cupped her face. He bent and _really_ kissed her. It was a fierce kiss, teeth clashed and tongues duelled. She felt herself being backed into the nearest tree and his body pressed hard against hers. She had the fleeting thought that she might still be dreaming but then they broke apart, panting and out of breath and she realized this was _real_.

"We are in _so_ much trouble." She reached her arms back up and around his neck and pushed herself off the tree. She didn't care though. Right now she didn't care about the trouble they could get into. Hell the world had pretty much ended – that was a good enough excuse in her books.

"Yes, yes we are." He gazed down at her and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks. She couldn't believe she had finally kissed him. She desperately wanted more but knew that things were going to be complicated enough if anyone found out they had even _kissed_. "I think… it's time I spoke to General Hammond." He bent down and placed a tiny kiss on her nose before resting his forehead against hers. "We have waited too long already." Anxiety filled her at the thought of telling General Hammond. Sure things may be different at the moment… they couldn't exactly be court-marshalled right now but… He shushed her and chuckled. "Stop overloading your brain Carter." He pulled away but she refused to take her arms from around his neck and instead rested her cheek against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her holding her close.

"I don't want to lose you." She whispered.

"I'll just carry on as a civilian." He told her seriously. "Things are different now."

"Things are more confusing now than when we were on Earth! At least there was clear cut rules… which told us no."

"Let's cross the bridge when we get to it okay? I'm talking to Hammond whether you like it or not. I'm done. I'm well over and done with this crap. I'm not going to go through the pain of trying to keep my hands off you!" She tilted her head up to look at him and found they wore matching grins. Maybe, just maybe things would be okay.

**TBC.**


	11. Chapter 11

The Virus

Chapter 11

..

She woke curled against him, one of her naked legs trapped beneath his. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. How many times had she fantasised about this moment? Not only had they _finally_ slept together… but he had even told her he loved her. He had spoken the words they had both kept buried for so many years. He was still asleep so she snuggled in closer and just took comfort in being with him… like _this_. She thought back to their conversation with Hammond the day before and bit her lip. Poor General Hammond, he had enough to worry about without now having to deal with this.

..

"_Sir, I just wondered if I could have a moment of your time." Colonel O'Neill asked._

"_Of course, what is it?" General Hammond asked._

"_I wondered if we could go for a walk… and speak somewhere private…?" She couldn't believe how calm her CO sounded. She was so nervous her palms were sweating._

"_This is not about your recent mission is it?" General Hammond sighed. They had already briefed him on their findings._

"_I think I should come with you." She looked up at Colonel O'Neill with pleading eyes. He had told her he would speak to the General alone but now she wanted to be there. She needed to hear it first-hand. General Hammond didn't look surprised at her request and she wondered if he might have an inkling of what was coming. He was a smart man after all._

_Once they had walked far enough away to be able to speak privately her anxiety levels rocketed._

"_I'm guessing you are about to retire, or resign… or something along those lines?" The General spoke first. She and the Colonel stopped in their tracks._

"_Uh…" Colonel O'Neill regained composure faster than she did. "Yes Sir." The General looked between the two and she felt a blush rise to her face._

"_Well, I've been expecting it." He shrugged his large shoulders and let out a sigh. "Things are so complicated right now." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know how the military will work now… not until everyone from Earth is reunited in one place." He seemed to be thinking aloud so she and the Colonel remained silent. He finally seemed to come to a decision in his mind. "As far as I'm concerned you are a civilian now Jack. I will still want you to help wherever possible so don't go running off…"_

"_-I won't go anywhere." The Colonel cut in, quick to reassure the General. "I'll do everything I'm doing now… I will just no longer officially be Colonel O'Neill." Was this really happening? She felt like her heart was in her mouth._

"_I'd prefer if you kept things… discreet." General Hammond told them. He looked sick with worry and she felt guilty. They couldn't really have chosen a more stressful time to bring this up._

"_Of course. Only…" She felt a tug on her sleeve and she turned smiling to the Colonel. To Jack. Her Jack. He was hers now. She would have to get used to using his first name. With her heart feeling as though it was going to leap right out of her chest she fell into the Colonel's arms and let him kiss her until she could hardly breathe. The moment he pulled away she turned, embarrassed to face the General. "Sorry, I have just waited a really, really long time for that." Jack apologised, but didn't look very sorry. Clearly uncomfortable with the sudden display of affection General Hammond just nodded._

"_I'll talk to you two later." He turned and walked away and her no-longer CO cupped her face in his hands._

"_I can't believe it," she whispered looking into his eyes._

"_You are finally mine." He told her. For some strange reason his words brought tears to her eyes and she ducked her head blinking them back._

"_Yes." She snuggled into him letting her head rest on his chest. "Yes I am."_

_.._

By the time Jack woke she was wide-awake. She had considered getting up for coffee but was loath to think of having to detach herself from him.

"Morning," he grumbled. She looked up into his eyes and smiled in response.

"Did you sleep okay?" She asked. The sleeping bag was tangled around their waists so he trailed fingertips up her naked side cupping a breast in his hand. She watched a look of sudden awe spread across his face.

"I can't believe that this is actually happening." He looked back down at her body and she felt a flush of pleasure. He had a way of making her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, even before they had slept together he had managed it.

"We should probably get up, I think it's late." He groaned in response and disentangled their legs before sliding over top of her. She tried to keep a serious face but ended up giving in, a smile gracing her lips at the sight of him above her. He bent down and kissed her deeply sending shivers of desire down her spine.

"I don't wanna," he whispered in her ear.

"Hammond might change his mind if we spend the rest of the day in this tent." She smirked. "Not that staying in here all day isn't an appealing to me…" He sighed loudly.

"Damn it," he gave her one more kiss before rolling off and throwing the sleeping bag to the end of the tent. "Guess we should find our clothes then…" They both looked around the tent to find it looked like a bomb had gone off. Clothes were discarded haphazardly and things had been knocked over during their love-making the night before.

"I think that's my…" she reached around him and plucked her bra from beneath a pillow. "Yup, pretty sure that's mine." He cocked his head to the side.

"I could help you get dressed." He offered, a hopeful expression on his face.

"I think that would take a long time." She chuckled and hooked her bra on.

After a fair amount of wrestling they both managed to finish dressing. It wouldn't have taken so long if the man could stop kissing her every couple of minutes… not that she minded. They emerged from the tent one at a time – trying to look casual. Thankfully everyone seemed busy with their breakfast so they needn't have been so cautious.

"Good morning," she sat down next to Cassie giving the girl's knee a squeeze. "Did you sleep well?" Cassie looked up at her a slow smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah I slept well." She handed Sam a coffee. "Did you sleep?" She asked teasingly.

"Yes." Sam smiled into her coffee, she knew what Cassie was insinuating. She met Jack's eyes over the top of her mug, he had one of those 'cat got the canary' smiles on his face. She would have to talk to Cassie about her relationship with Jack at some point but clearly the girl already knew things had changed between them. It was all so new and overwhelming for her so she was glad she didn't have to talk to Cassie immediately… she needed time to sort things out in her own mind.

"Daniel was by earlier, he said something about that shopping trip." Cassie told them.

"Great!" Sam responded, with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm because Cassie seemed to be trying not to laugh.

Just as they finished their breakfast she was surprised to look up and find General Hammond hovering near the edge of their 'camp'. She waved him over.

"Good morning Sir," Jack who had been having a staring contest with Cassie snapped to attention at her words.

"Good morning Major… _Jack_." He put emphasis on Jack's name and took a seat on the remaining log. He looked stressed and Sam felt sorry for him. She did not envy him his job right now. "Daniel wants to head out to find supplies. I want the three of you to go to Sollia." Sollia was a technologically advanced planet they had visited a couple of years before and she was surprised they were going there. The people there hadn't been keen on sharing their technology… maybe things were different now. It wasn't technology they were after, it was simply food and supplies.

"Sollia, sir?" Jack asked, looking confused.

"Tiko." She rolled her eyes at him. Tiko was the leader on Sollia and Jack had kindly called him a stuck-up prick behind his back. She watched his face drop as he realized who she was talking about.

"Ah, yes." Jack sighed. "Why Sollia Sir?"

"Sollia have decided to help us. Our team of scientists who were working on a cure are heading to Sollia to use their labs. They will begin working on a vaccination now."

"Coffee Uncle George?" Cassie handed the man a mug and General Hammond smiled gratefully.

"Have they found a cure?" Sam asked, surprised.

"No." General Hammond took a sip of his still steaming coffee. "Unfortunately there is no-one left to cure." Once the words sunk in she felt a painful twist in her heart. "Sam I'd like you to head over to the labs once you reach Sollia and see how they are getting on. Jack, you and Daniel can trade for supplies, I have a list of things we are in need of." He finished his coffee and stood. "Gear up and be ready in ten minutes."

"This is going to be a fun mission." Jack stood up. "Tiko just _loves_ me." He told them sarcastically.

"I wish I could go." Cassie told them wistfully. "It's getting really boring here."

"I'll talk to General Hammond about finding you a job here if you like?" Sam asked. She was sure they could find something around the camp that needed doing.

"I guess so." Cassie shrugged her expression grim.

"I'll try bring you back some _tasty_ food." Jack told her with a grin. "I wonder if they have marshmallows…" He headed back to his tent and Sam smiled wistfully as she remembered their evening toasting marshmallows. It felt like so long ago now.

..

Once she reached Sollia and assured Jack and Daniel she would be fine she followed a lady named Tala to the labs. It was strange being in a place that didn't have tents and she felt disorientated to begin with walking beneath the high-rise buildings.

..

Sam stared around the lab in amazement. She recognized many of the scientists and doctors from Earth. Talking to them was easy and she found their discoveries so far fascinating.

It wasn't until her radio crackled and Jack's voice came through that she looked at the time. She had already been in the lab for well over an hour.

"Are you ready to go Carter?" She looked up at Doctor Lou who nodded at her. They were done.

"Yes, I'll see you back at the gate soon." She hoped she could find her way back, Tala had left not long after showing her into the lab.

She reached the gate before the boys did so she sat down on the stairs leading to the gate and rested her elbows on her knees and chin in her hands. She took in the surroundings and wished for a moment the Sollia people had been the ones to take in the refugees. Sure they weren't the _easiest_ people to get along with… but camping was only fun for a short period of time. She was getting sick of lighting fires, eating MRE's and washing in the stream. She would have to brave the cold water of the stream again tonight, she grimaced at the thought.

"Daydreaming on the job Major?" She looked up at Jack and leapt to her feet.

"No Sir," she responded automatically. He just chuckled and gestured behind him. There were four men and Daniel dragging a large trailer.

"I took point so that I wouldn't have to drag the damn thing," he whispered. She laughed lightly at this and tried to figure out what was in the trailer. Everything was in boxes though so she would have to wait until they returned to Palla to find out.

"Please tell me they have coffee in Sollia… and that they were willing to share…"

"Dial the gate," he told her. She sighed, clearly he was going to make her wait.

She headed over to the DHD and dialled the sequence for Palla looking back over her shoulder at him. While she had the chance she took in his appearance and felt a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth. She knew she had more pressing issues to attend to… but at the same time she couldn't help wondering if maybe she could convince him to come and bathe with her in the stream that night. It would be a lot less _cold_ if he were there.

**TBC.**

**Authors Note**: OK so I HAVE written an M rated scene for this but I'm not going to include it. Simply because this is a multi-chapter and a random smutty porn piece in the middle probably isn't really suitable, haha. I will publish the "M scene" separately for those of you interested.


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors Note: **Thank you everyone for your kind reviews! I have been trying to respond to all of them… apologies if I have missed yours!

I am enjoying writing this immensely. I am probably publishing the chapters a little fast after writing them so do let me know if you see any mistakes! ;-)

..

The Virus

Chapter 12

..

Sam knew she didn't have much time to wash in the stream before it got dark but she couldn't resist whispering in Jack's ear before she left.

She had touched his shoulder lightly to get his attention and then bent down rather casually to whisper '_Come with me._' She then proceeded to walk away with an extra little swing to her hips. He would have turned to watch her walk away, he always did.

She smirked at the memory and began undressing. One of the boxes the Sollian's had given them was filled with little bars of soap so Sam had no qualms about using her now not-so-precious bar of soap. She washed herself thoroughly enjoying the scent of lavender and the feeling of her now clean body.

"Is it still the woman's bathing area?" She looked up at Jack's voice, hiding her smile. She knew he would come.

"Technically… yes. But I think it's getting too dark for anyone else to come out tonight." She told him. She looked upwards at her words and noted that there was a full moon, this would explain why it wasn't as dark as she had expected by now. The perfect evening for a dip in the stream with a sexy man.

"Good." He told her with a grin. She treaded water and watched him undress with hungry eyes. She couldn't believe she was actually allowed to do this now… a few days ago she would have had to watch him out of the corner of her eye, she let out a snort of laughter and he raised an eyebrow as he stepped into the shallows. "What's so funny?" He asked. She watched him cover his _parts_ with his hands a pained look on his face. "Damn it's colder than I remember!"

She ignored his question and watched him with her full attention as he made his way in until the water reached his knees – the still pained expression on his face. She placed her feet on the ground when she saw him stop. She was going to have to do some convincing to get him in any further.

"Cold huh?"

"Yah think?" He sent her a sharp look.

"Come on, I'll warm you up." His face lit up at this and it seemed to be all the incentive he needed. When he was up to his waist a string of obscenities left his mouth before he sucked in a deep breath and dived into the water beside her. The splash had distracted her and so when her feet suddenly flew out from beneath her she was surprised. Thankfully the moment her head went under she still remembered to stop breathing and she swam forward where she assumed Jack was. He was going to get it for this.

She failed to find him and surfaced to find a laughing Jack staring down at her. She gave him her best glare and stood up.

"Sorry, it was just…" He began speaking. She hit him lightly in the chest and he suddenly stopped part way through his sentence. Her eyes found his and she felt a shiver. His intense brown eyes held hers steady and she saw the desire in them. "You are stunning." She tilted her face up to meet his. She realized kissing him had become as natural to her as breathing… and it had only been two days. She smiled against his lips at the thought and he pulled away to look at her.

"Sorry," she gave him an apologetic peck on the lips. "I was just thinking…"

"I thought kissing might make that big brain of yours go quiet…" Jack pretended to be offended that his kissing wasn't distracting enough and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"No, no. I was just thinking how natural it feels to be kissing you." She smiled. It was strange, voicing such intimate feelings with him. She knew it would get easier with time but it felt a little awkward for the moment.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He pulled her into his arms and she wound her wet arms up around his neck and lifted her body in the water so her legs wrapped around his waist. The good thing about water was she could actually do this without hurting him. He bent his head and kissed her and this time with enough intensity that he really did shut her _big brain_ up.

..

She woke to rain pattering on the tent, it was a sound she had always loved. She snuggled closer to _her_ Jack and he grumbled something under his breath that sounded like _too early._

"Yes it is, go back to sleep." She told him softly. He tilted his head to look down at her with sleepy eyes and her heart warmed. She could definitely get used to waking up next to him. She just hoped soon it would be in a _real_ bed not an uncomfortable foam mattress, their bodies covered in nothing but a sleeping bag. They were lucky the temperature on Palla didn't get very low as having his sleeping bag opened up and thrown over them wasn't exactly the best way to stay warm.

"Hey Sam…" He began and then shifted so he could see her face better. "We haven't used protection…" She stiffened next to him. She had been hoping to hold off on this conversation for a few days yet. She hadn't quite figured out the words to tell him. She found she couldn't meet his eyes.

"The thing is… I mean you might not want to be with me once you know." She bit her lip nervously.

"Nothing would change my mind." He told her, his voice firm.

"I can't have children." She blurted out, her eyes darted around the tent behind him for something to look at, she was afraid to see his reaction. "We have been exposed to radiation on more than one occasion… and Janet thought it might have been because of that." Her words came out in a rush.

"Oh Sam," his arms tightened around her body. "Look at me." She forced her eyes up to his and instead of finding shock, anger or even pity… she found he was looking at her with nothing but adoration.

"It's okay, I never really wanted kids anyway to be honest." Though her words were true, she still felt sad. She would have liked to have at least had the choice.

"It doesn't change anything." He bent and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead before continuing. "I would want to be with you no matter what." She felt tears well up in her eyes at his words. She had never really been a _romantic_ and so hadn't expected his words to have such an effect on her. She ran a hand up his chest and left her palm over his heart as she blinked back her tears. The steady beat of his heart beneath her hand soothed her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

She lay in his arms for another half hour or so while they waited for the sun to come up. They were both silent, lost in their own thoughts. She hadn't expected the talk of her infertility to go like this. She had expected shock and maybe disappointment when she told him. He had a way with children and she had always assumed if given the chance he would want to have another child. One day she would talk to him about it – she had wondered in the past if losing Charlie had been too much for him. Maybe he didn't want more children after such a traumatic event. She knew he would never fully recover from the loss of his son, but she would never expect him to either.

..

"'morning Sam." She got up to find Daniel and Cassie eating breakfast around their fire. She glanced behind her to see Jack exiting his tent. Daniel didn't look surprised to see them both come from his tent… She knew she needed to say something, give some kind of explanation… but her brain just wasn't functioning.

"Um," she began awkwardly. Jack sat next to Cassie and avoided eye contact with her, clearly he was going to be of no help. "We… have permission… spoke to Hammond…" She stammered out her words and eventually gave up, running a nervous hand through her hair.

"You don't need to explain." Daniel chuckled. "I'm not stupid, I saw this coming a _long_ time ago. I just hope I don't see Teal'c anytime soon as I'm going to owe him some money." She was not surprised he and Teal'c had a bet going.

"You bet on when we would hook up?" Jack let out a snort of laughter. "Brilliant!"

"He's already paid me." Cassie told them with a laugh. Sam handed Jack his coffee and took a sip of her own. She had been trying to figure out how to tell Daniel and Cassie about their relationship… and for the second time that morning she was surprised at how a potentially deep and serious revelation had gone so well.

"General Hammond wants to see us after breakfast." Daniel told them.

"Don't we get weekends on Palla?" Jack grumbled. She had forgotten it was a Saturday, the days of the week all seemed to merge together of late.

"Apparently not." Daniel replied with a tired smile.

"I'm getting some training today." Cassie suddenly cut in with a grin. "Major Tanner is going to teach me how to fight!"

"You already know how to fight." Sam replied with a small laugh. "Janet told me how you beat up that bully… what was her name again?"

"Ugh, Hannah O'Reilly. She was a _bitch_!" Cassie scowled at the memory.

"But in all seriousness, I'm glad Major Tanner is going to do some training with you." Sam gave the girl a reassuring smile.

"He's going to teach me how to shoot once I've learned hand-to-hand combat." Cassie told them proudly.

"I don't know if I want you running around with a gun." Jack told her a fake look of concern on his face.

"I'm responsible." Cassie told him her chin going up as a look of defiance crossed her face.

"No kidding." He replied with a raised eyebrow in her direction.

"Well I'm happy for you, Cass." Daniel told her. "We need all the help we can get."

"We are happy for you too." Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said. _We_? She was speaking for Jack already? Jesus. She looked over at him but he either hadn't heard her, or didn't care – he continued scoffing his breakfast like it was his last meal.

..

General Hammond gave them an update on some of the SG teams out and about. The teams were working on finding a new Alpha site and trading for supplies and dispersing them between the planets where Earth's refugees were currently living. It wasn't until Earth was mentioned that her ears really pricked up.

"We are sending in three teams to begin decontaminating Cheyenne Mountain. I would like you three to help them out today. The first step is getting the power up and running. Obviously there is still some residual power as you managed to use the Stargate… but we need power throughout the entire complex."

"Yes Sir," Jack answered and stood up. "Carter, Daniel. Be ready in twenty minutes." She rose to her feet and nodded at the General before falling into step beside Jack. She was pleased they were finally getting to start work at Cheyenne Mountain… but part of her felt apprehensive at the thought of returning to the devastating sight that had met their eyes only days earlier. It was not going to be an easy mission.

**TBC.**


	13. Chapter 13

The Virus

Chapter 13

..

SG-1 was the last team to arrive on the isolation planet that had been dubbed 'Iso' for short. Daniel had lamented about how unimaginative the name was while they were still back on Palla. He had made a good point though, the planet wasn't _always_ going to be used as a place of isolation. She had actually heard a few whispers that it might become the new Alpha site.

"I'm Doctor Harlan," a nervous looking man approached them the moment they exited the gate. "You must be SG-1."

"If you follow me, I'll show you where the contamination suits are."

"Damn, we still have to wear those things?" Doctor Harlan twisted his hands anxiously in front of him at Jack's words. She elbowed Jack in the ribs and he gave her a _'who me?' _look before shrugging his shoulders at the Doctor.

"Don't listen to him." Daniel told the Doctor apologetically. Sam smiled at Daniel gratefully and sent a glare in Jack's direction. He had a way of antagonising people. Sometimes she wondered if he wasn't even making a conscious effort to do so, it just seemed to come so naturally to him.

Once they were in their suits and back at the gate she finally had a moment alone with Jack. He looked over at her, the head piece in his hand.

"I really wish I could kiss you right now." He told her with a sly smile. She snorted in response. Why would he want to kiss her while she wore this hideous bulky orange suit? She dreaded having to move around in it once they reached Earth. The faster Cheyenne Mountain was decontaminated the better.

"Oh yeah, I look really sexy right now." She told him.

"You look sexy in _everything_…" He smirked. "_And_ in nothing." She felt a flush creep up her neck at his words and she glanced over her shoulder to see Daniel heading their way. She shushed him and put her head piece on. It was strange hearing him say those words… out of their little bubble back on Palla anyway.

The moment the wormhole opened she took a deep breath, readying herself for the long, hard day before her.

..

"Major Carter!" The moment she arrived in the gate room, she was pulled away from the boys and dragged down the corridor. "Thank God you are here, we actually have no idea what we are doing." _And _Sam had no idea who it was leading her. The suits made everyone look the same unless you got a close look and she couldn't pick out the voice.

"Uh…" She started and the figure ahead of her spun around and she recognised Nellie one of the lab technician's that had worked with at Cheyenne Mountain. "Oh, hello." She smiled warmly. It was good to see a familiar face.

She listened as Nellie described the problems they had encountered so far in getting the power up and running throughout the entire complex. She felt the wheels in her head begin turning, slowly as if rusty to begin with and then all of a sudden she felt her brain engage and she smiled, relieved. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed having her mind challenged, all her previous anxieties about the day fell away as she lost herself in her work.

..

It took the better part of the day to get the most important systems up and running. It wasn't until Jack found her and insisted she took a break and had something to eat that she realized how hungry she was.

"What time is it?" She asked as she followed him down the hallway.

"It's nearly 1700 hours." He replied.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To eat." He responded simply.

It didn't take her long to realize they were heading to the isolation wards. "Why are we down here?" She asked, confused.

"Because one of the isolation rooms has been decontaminated, so you can take your suit off."

"Oh,"

"You must be hungry! You can't eat unless you go somewhere you can take your suit off." He threw a worried look over his shoulder. He knew her well, her brain never worked well when she was hungry.

"Ugh," she frowned. "I must be. I should have thought of that!"

She shed her suit the moment the isolation door shut behind them and let out a huge sigh of relief. The cool air felt incredibly good against her skin. She turned around to take in the rest of the room and her jaw dropped in surprise. A table sat in the centre of the room absolutely covered in food. She grinned. _Real_ food.

"They did the whole…" Jack waved his hand at the food. "I don't know, they said it was good to eat anyway." He moved across the room and she noticed there was a tray filled with mugs, a jug and a jar she guessed was filled with coffee.

"Oh this is great!" She picked up a plastic plate and began loading it up with food. It was an odd assortment. Obviously a lot of food would have been perishable but someone had taken the time to cook and she loaded her plate up with the steaming pasta from one bowl, the stir-fry from another and then grabbed a bunch of what seemed to be chocolate chip cookies and put them on the edge of her plate too.

"Coffee?" He held up an empty mug, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Yes please." She took a seat at an empty table behind him and picked up her fork ready to dig in.

It wasn't long before he had finished making their coffees and he took the seat next to her. She gave him a grateful smile but because she was eating, chose not to speak. Well, more like stuffing her face full of food. She knew it wasn't probably a pretty sight the way she shoved far too much into her mouth but _damn_ it was good. She was so sick of MRE's and weak coffee.

"Enjoying yourself I see," Jack leaned back in his chair with an indulgent smile. "There is one more thing…" He pulled something out of his pocket and placed it next to her plate. She chewed quickly and swallowed her current mouthful.

"Chocolate!" It was her favourite brand too. She snatched up the bar but calmed herself and found her manners somehow. "Thank you." She opened the wrapper and took a bite, letting the chocolate melt on her tongue she closed her eyes. _Heaven_, she had to be in heaven.

"Are you going to share?" She looked over at him in surprise and then back at the chocolate bar in her hand.

"I thought you knew me better than that." She told him, her eyes going wide. She _never_ shared food. He smirked at her words.

"I know." He pulled out another chocolate bar from his pocket and held it up for her to see. "That's why I got myself one too." She sighed with relief. "You are so adorable when you get all protective of your food like that." He told her with a laugh. "It kind of turns me on." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and she rolled her eyes.

"Who knows? Maybe you will get lucky tonight."

"I did give you chocolate."

"That you did." She popped the last piece into her mouth and stood up. She looked around the room reassuring herself they were alone before straddling him and bending down to give him a chocolate-y kiss. He looked up in surprise when she pulled away.

"Oh boy, let's go home _now_." He told her with his lopsided grin. She smiled back and removed herself from his lap in case anyone decided to come into the room. Before returning to her seat she couldn't resist bending down to give him one last lingering kiss.

**TBC.**


	14. Chapter 14

The Virus

Chapter 14

..

**Authors Note: **Just a little chapter this time. It's sort of a lead up to the next chapter which is rather long!

..

Two weeks had gone by since she had set foot on Earth. The time had flown by, General Hammond kept them busy with one mission after another and it wasn't until Jack finally put his foot down that Hammond gave them a couple of days break. He had also told Hammond to do the same. The poor man was looking thinner, paler and just altogether _older_ these days.

"Hey Sam," she looked up from the coffee she held in her hands to find Cassie striding between the tents. The girl had lost a little weight since they had arrived here on Palla, but built up muscle. She wore military pants and a black t-shirt with her long hair pulled up into a messy bun. Sam smiled at the sight and waved the girl towards the log beside her.

"What's up Cassie?"

"Amanda was telling me we might be able to move back to Earth permanently. Is that true?" Cassie dropped herself onto the log and stretched her long legs out in front of her, crossing her legs at the ankles Sam noted the girl also wore military issue boots. She was looking every-bit like a young cadet these days.

"It's a possibility." She answered with a shrug. She wasn't allowed to tell Cassie of General Hammond's plans yet. They were planning on moving half of Earth's refugees into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex when it was ready. She knew this could be any day now and excitement at the thought of going _home_ bubbled beneath the surface.

"So that's a yes?" Cassie asked. Sam jerked her head up in surprise. Damn that girl was too smart for her own good sometimes.

"It's classified." She smirked. "But yes, I think we will be. Let's just keep it between us though, okay?" Cassie agreed with a nod and looked off into the distance, clearly lost in her own thoughts.

"Hey ladies," she looked up to find Jack standing over them. "I have some news for you." Sam felt her heart beat speed up. This was it. She was about to find out if they could go home or not, she just knew it.

"What is it?" Sam asked, her voice a little higher than normal. She cringed and Jack quirked an eyebrow at her, his eyes searching hers for a moment to ensure she was okay. _Calm yourself Sam._

"Looks like we are going home tomorrow." He ran a hand along Sam's shoulders before sitting down beside her.

"Tomorrow!" She and Cassie both spoke at the same time.

"Jinx," the girl told her with a wink.

"Yes, we have today to pack our things." Jack told them nonchalantly, he would have already dealt with his shock at the speed things were moving.

"How will it work?" Sam asked, suddenly concerned. Things would be chaos… civilians and military personnel all mixed together and living in one place? She knew there was plenty of space in the complex but there would need to be rules set in place, particularly for those who had no military training.

"Ugh," Jack made a noise of disgust. "A whole bunch of rules and shit."

"That's not particularly helpful, Jack." She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. We will be split into three groups. Red, Blue and Green. The three groups will have set times to use the commissary, locker rooms, gym… blah, blah, blah." He grinned over at her, knowing his description would annoy her. She bit back a sharp retort. It was best to ignore him when he was like this.

"I guess we will have to work out the kinks in the plan once we are all over there." Sam mused aloud.

"Will I get my own room?" Cassie asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Uh," Jack scrunched up his nose. "Not exactly."

"They have put up dividers in the VIP rooms, they will be used for families." Sam explained what little she knew of the set up. "Since you are under the age of 25 you will be sharing a bunk room."

"Greaaaaat," Cassie drawled sarcastically. She reminded her so much of Jack at that moment.

"We have our own room." Jack nudged Sam with his arm.

"We sure do." Sam gloated, knowing it would annoy the girl beside them.

"Lucky for some." Cassie answered bitterly.

"It's okay, if you need some space you can always use our room." Sam reassured her, suddenly feeling guilty.

"At least we will have real beds and bathrooms… and food!" Jack told Cassie, he obviously felt a little bad too.

"Yes," Cassie agreed bouncing to her feet. "I am going to start packing right now."

"Oh, I got something for you." Jack fished around in his jacket pocket and pulled out an ipod, the white earphones were wrapped around it. "I have no idea what kind of music is on it." He warned as he handed it to the girl.

"Oh Jack!" She took the ipod and bent down giving Jack a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. "You are awesome. I don't care what the music is, any music is better than none." She disappeared into her tent and Sam placed a hand on Jack's knee giving it a squeeze.

"You are so good to her, Jack." She told him softly and leant against him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "I love her so much, but she is more like you than she is me. You always know how to make her happy."

"You make her happy, Sam." He told her seriously. "She's loved you since day one." Sam thought back to the little girl she had tucked up against her chest in the bottom of a nuclear testing station all those years ago.

"And I've loved her just as long." Sam replied. "I can't believe we are going home, it feels…" she trailed off. It feels what? She didn't know what she felt.

She wanted to go back to Earth… back to the relative comfort of the base. There was part of her that knew it was going to be almost as hard as adjusting to life on Palla, maybe even harder. Life on Palla was new, there were no expectations. They simply used what they had to make their lives as comfortable as possible, knowing that they would not be there forever. Going back to Earth she would have memories of how it used to be, but nothing would ever be the same.

"Strange?" Jack suggested.

"Hard." She sighed.

"I'm not right now." She pulled away slightly and punched him in the arm.

"I'm being serious Jack!" He smirked and looked over at their tent.

"I suppose we should start packing." She took the hint and let the topic drop. She knew he didn't want to delve into thoughts of going _home_ right now. She didn't blame him, it was making her head hurt and her heart ache.

"Yes we should." She agreed and stood up, reaching a hand down to help him to his feet.

**TBC.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors Note: **Sorry for the delay. Mother's Day weekend was chaotic! I spent Sunday chasing after my 2 &amp; 3 year old godchildren… I don't know how you mothers out there look after toddlers full-time. I was shattered by the time I got home!

Again, thank you for all your feedback. A special thanks to blutschwinge :)

..

The Virus

Chapter 15

..

Sam woke to a hand trailing up her naked side, she wriggled away from his touch with a groan. She wanted to keep sleeping.

"Wakey, wakey." Jack told her brightly. She cracked one eye open to glare at him and then rolled further away. They had been up incredibly late last night, actually it was more like early hours of the morning if she remembered rightly. The two of them had decided to spend their last night out at the clearing where they had spent their first night together. It was a romantic notion and normally not her thing to be honest – but Jack had suggested it and she surprised herself by being flattered.

Of course one thing led to another and they did a lot more than star-gazing while they were out there. She didn't know where the hell Jack got his energy from because he should still be asleep too. "Sam, we have to get up." His voice was serious this time and she turned to face him, reluctantly opening both eyes to look at him.

"Why?" She was not awake enough to think about it, easier to just ask him.

"It's D-day" he grinned and bent down pressing a quick kiss to her lips before throwing the sleeping bag off both their naked bodies, a rush of cool air made her snatched the sleeping bag back and wrapped it around her cold body.

"Hey what about me?" He tugged at the edge of the sleeping bag but she pulled it out of his hands with a grin.

"You are the one who threw it away."

"I was just trying to get you up."

"I'm up." She shuffled on her knees across the tent with the sleeping bag still wrapped around her attempting to get to her clothes that were yet again scattered around the tent. Before she reached them strong hands grabbed her around the middle and pulled her backwards.

"That's not fair." He growled in her ear. She felt another shiver, but this time it wasn't from the cold. She managed to get free of his arms and turned to face him. She looked up through her lashes at him and sucked in her bottom lip seductively.

"What are you going to do about it?" She asked huskily. Once more the sleeping bag was taken from her, but this time she didn't mind because she didn't have time to get cold.

..

"Good morning," Jack sung out and dropped himself onto a log by the fire. Cassie looked up blearily at him and Sam rolled her eyes.

"Someone is in a good mood." Sam turned around to find Daniel looking down at her, a knowing look on his face. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks and she reached for the mug of coffee Cassie was now handing her.

"Thanks Cass," Daniel set about making a coffee for himself while Cassie, Jack and Sam drank theirs in silence. No-one was truly awake before their first coffee – well apart from Jack that was.

After breakfast and a second stronger coffee, Sam finally felt motivated to start her day. She began by enlisting Cassie's help to drag the logs they had been using as seats back out to the forest. While they did this Jack put out their fire and began packing their food into their chilly-bins.

By the time she and Cassie returned after discarding the last log, Jack was beginning to drag out their bags from his tent. She felt butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach. She looked over the rest of the camp at the tents being dismantled and the piles of bags and boxes. Just after lunch they would be heading to Iso and then _home_. She headed over to help Jack empty out their tent telling Cassie she would give her a hand as soon as they had all their things together.

..

Sam had a bad feeling. Iso was absolute chaos. There were children running between legs and jumping over bags and boxes and the noise of conversation was giving her a headache. People were beginning to yell over each other to be heard and the people waiting at the gate were arguing about which group was going through the gate first.

"For crying out loud." Jack suddenly yelled. "Everyone SHUT UP!" Her eyes widened in surprise as the people who had heard him actually followed his order. "QUIET!" He yelled. This time even _more_ people heard him and turned to face him.

"Everyone needs to calm down." She spoke loudly to those nearest. She and Jack began walking into the crowds of people and Jack continued to tell everyone to _shut the hell up_. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. He was being a little over-the-top but hey it was working.

"Where is General Hammond?" He asked her out of the corner of his mouth, before shushing a group of children who were giggling at something.

"He hasn't arrived yet." She told him with a shake of her head.

"Right, let's get these people sorted then."

"You all know what colour you are." He called out. He received a few nods in return and he rolled his eyes. "Blue, stand over there." He pointed to the right. "Well away from the gate please." People began moving to where he pointed. "Red, you are over there." He pointed back towards the Iso tents. "And green, you are over here." He pointed to the left. "Everyone needs to remain calm and listen for further instructions." Sam ducked her head and laughed quietly. Everyone seemed to be doing as he asked and she could see the smug look on Jack's face. He was enjoying himself. Cassie poked her in the ribs and Sam looked over to see Cassie with a big grin on her face.

"That was _so_ cool." Cassie exclaimed and gave Jack a thumbs up.

"Sam, Jack!" She turned at the sound of Daniel's voice and her jaw dropped. Standing beside him was Teal'c!

"Teal'c!" She couldn't hide the excitement at finally seeing their friend again. She closed the gap between them at an almost-run and threw her arms around the large man. He stiffened in surprise before finally wrapping his arms around her in a quick bear hug before letting her go.

"Good to see you buddy," Jack shook Teal'c's hand. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I have been on Chulak."

"We know that… I mean why didn't you visit us?" He slapped Teal'c on the arm jokingly but then winced and moved away as if expecting Teal'c to hit him back – which would have sent him flying. Teal'c just shrugged his shoulders.

"General Hammond asked that I refrain from visiting until you returned to Earth."

"Strange," Sam frowned. "Why would he say that?"

"Because he may have been carrying the virus." Daniel suggested, pushing his glasses up his nose a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, whatever the reason. I'm glad to see you Teal'c!" Sam told him seriously.

"It is good to see you too Major Carter." Teal'c bowed his head and gave her a smile.

"There's the General." Jack pointed behind them. "It's time."

**TBC.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Authors Note: **Well looks like I have an unexpected 4 day weekend! We had some serious flooding in our region on Thursday (it's now Friday) and I'm not back at work until Monday. Hoorah! Hopefully this means I can get plenty of chapters up for y'all. ;) We have no serious damage at our house but lots of the highways are still closed due to flooding &amp; slips which makes travelling a pain in the rear to be honest!

**..**

The Virus

Chapter 16

..

Sam threw herself onto her new bed with a sigh of contentment. Thankfully after the initial chaos on Iso, everyone seemed to settle down and follow directions without complaint. On reaching the base they were met with military teams of two who led each group to their quarters. There must have been a ridiculous amount of organisation involved. The teams had clipboards with long lists that included all the refugee's names and their destinations within their new mountain home. Sam was incredibly relieved to not have that job and had just followed along with the rest of the Blue group until her 'team leaders' pointed out her room.

She knew she didn't have time to lay around on her bed all day… but it literally felt like heaven at the moment. The first thing she had noticed after closing the door to her new room was the lack of sound. When you have lived in a tent for over a month you find a whole new appreciation of privacy. She closed her eyes and focused on the quiet hum of electricity. It was so wonderfully quiet she could hear each breath she took, so when the door suddenly swung open with a bang as it hit the wall she nearly leapt out of her skin. Jack had arrived and was dragging his bags behind him and swearing under his breath.

"Oh, you made it here first." His face lit up at the sight of her and she suddenly felt shy. She was no longer in her little bubble on Palla. Here on Earth for as long as she had known him – he had been her superior. He flopped onto the bed next to her and turned to face her, propping himself up on one elbow. "You okay?" He asked worriedly. Obviously she wasn't hiding her feelings as well as she had thought.

"I'm fine." She gave him her best smile and leaned in giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey, is that all I get?" He pouted and she grinned. Okay, he was still _her_ Jack. This time she gently nudged him until he lay on his back before moving herself over him and lowering her face to his. She kissed him with all she had and it wasn't until she ran out of breath that she finally pulled away, panting slightly.

"I guess we had better get down to the General's office." She had told General Hammond they would head down as soon as they had dropped their belongings off in their room.

"I would _really_ like to christen this bed." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. She hit him lightly in the chest and rolled off him.

"I'm sure you would, but we have a job to do." She slid off the bed and went around to his side, holding out her hand to help him up. "Tonight Jack, tonight you can have your way with me." She giggled at the expression on his face and tugged him to his feet.

..

On their trip down to General Hammond's office Sam discovered that people were not as calm as they had been when they first arrived. Perhaps the initial shock of being back on Earth had worn off. Many of the doors they passed were open and parents were corralling their children and herding them back into their rooms with harried looks on their faces. There were many adults arguing and on entering the elevator she and Jack had the pleasure of breaking up a fist fight between two men. It was an uncomfortable ride down to the General's office as they stood between two red faced men shooting dirty looks at each other over their heads.

It was with great relief that she closed the General's office door behind them. She took a seat opposite his desk, Jack following suit.

"Well Major Carter you will be pleased to know we have finally managed to get in contact with the Tok'ra."

"Dad?" She asked immediately.

"Yes, Jacob is with them. Unfortunately it seems they had problems of their own when the virus hit. They were invaded by Goa'uld and had to organize their own evacuation to another planet." General Hammond leant backwards in his chair and eyed them both. "I think Jacob is planning on visiting as soon as he can get away."

"Thank you Sir," she told him gratefully turning to Jack and meeting his eyes, silently communicating how pleased she would be to see her dad. She knew he liked her dad a lot too, despite having some 'issues' with the Tok'ra in general. He had even taken to calling him 'dad' and she wondered how her dad would feel about this when he realized she and Jack were officially _together_. Her dad, like Jack – was a man of few words. He had never said outright that he knew she had feelings for the Colonel but he had given her some definite hints in the past.

"Alright, now down to business." The General told them, leaning back in his chair. It felt so familiar she could almost forget that things had changed. "I would like you to help Walter this afternoon Major Carter. We need the security cameras up and running again firstly. But he says there are many programmes that are malfunctioning that will need fixing. Unfortunately everyone else has been assigned elsewhere so it will just be the two of you."

"Yes, Sir." She was pleased to have something to keep her brain occupied. The past few weeks had been both physically exhausting and emotionally… but she really needed the mental stimulation.

"Jack, I'll need you to meet with Daniel and Teal'c. I want the three of you to organize the military personnel currently not assigned and have them guard the corridors in the living quarters. It seems that there is some tension between many of the refugees." General Hammond sighed and ran a hand over his bald head. "I currently have a team organizing jobs for all those who are not military who want to help. I'm hoping this will smooth things over."

"Yes Sir," Jack nodded.

..

By the time she and Walter had got the security cameras up and running her stomach was growling. Walter had given her some sideways looks that told her the noise was audible to him too.

"Maybe you should go have dinner, Major Carter." Walter suggested with a raised eyebrow. She glanced at her watch and groaned in disappointment. It was only 1700 hours so it was the Red teams turn in the mess hall, Blue was not due for dinner until 1800. She had another whole hour to wait.

"I'm in Blue, it's not our turn yet." She stood and stretched out her aching back, she was unused to sitting hunched over a computer for so many hours. "What colour are you?"

"Blue as well. I don't see why you couldn't go out of hours Major? You are clearly hungry."

"Unfortunately right now the most important thing for all of us living here is structure. If we stick to the routine things will be a lot less stressful all around." She smiled over at the man. "Thanks though, I'll be fine." Just as she finished speaking the door opened and Teal'c and Jack stepped through.

"Hello Geek one and Geek two, how goes it?" Jack dropped himself into an unoccupied chair. She rolled her eyes and looked over at Teal'c who stood uncomfortably in the doorway.

"Come sit, Teal'c." She gestured to the other empty chair.

"I do not wish to interrupt your work." Teal'c told her with a bow of his head.

"We could do with a break anyway, right Walter?" He agreed and spun his own chair around to face the newcomers.

"Got you something." She looked over at Jack a moment too late and nearly received a chocolate bar to the face. She caught it at the last second.

"Death by chocolate." She laughed lightly and unwrapped the treat. "Thanks."

"Finally! I've been listening to her stomach growling for the past half hour." Walter told them. It was unlike him to joke so all heads turned his way, shock clearly evident in their eyes. "What?" Walter asked, suddenly looking worried.

"Nothing," Jack shrugged and began spinning his chair using the equipment around him to push himself off.

"You probably shouldn't touch-" an alarm sounded before she could complete her warning. With an internal sigh she turned back to the computer to switch off the alarm. She shot an exasperated look over her shoulder at Jack.

"Sorry," he didn't look very sorry though, he was bouncing one of his legs up and down now. He was clearly restless and she wasn't sure she wanted him around the delicate equipment when he was in this kind of mood.

"Look Jack, as much as I appreciate you stopping by and the chocolate…" She held up the empty wrapper. "Maybe I'll just see you at dinner." Jack sighed and stood up.

"Fine, get rid of me then."

"Teal'c, keep him out of trouble would you?" She directed the question at her friend and he gave her an amused smile.

"Yes Major Carter." He stood and gestured to the door, allowing Jack to walk ahead of him. She shot a relieved look at Walter when the door shut behind them.

..

She finally got to see Cassie at dinner. Sam arrived a little late and after searching the crowds she finally caught sight of the girl sitting with Jack, Daniel and Teal'c in one of the corner tables. She waved at them before heading over to stand in the queue.

Once she had piled her plate up with steaming hot food, placed a coffee on her tray and to her excitement – a bowl of blue jello – she finally headed over to her friends. She was feeling surprisingly content all things considered. She was very lucky to still have SG-1, Cassie and her dad. She knew many of the people in this room had lost many friends and members of their family. Some had even lost _all_ of those they cared about. She knew the General himself had lost the majority of his family, he only had his daughter-in-law and one granddaughter remaining. As she contemplated this she realized he was a truly resilient man. He had continued to take charge and if it weren't for him, things would not be running this smoothly. She had no idea how he was coping with it all, she would have lost her mind by now – she was sure.

"OK kids, I have to go see a bald man. Apparently it was too important to wait until tomorrow. I'll see you later." Jack stood up and ruffled both her and Cassie's hair as he passed behind their chairs. Sam raised her hand and smoothed down her hair and turned to Cassie who looked equally as irritated.

"One of his more annoying habits." Cassie muttered. "Did you have a busy day, Sam?"

"Yes, working on the computer systems. How about you?"

"It looks like I'm going to have to cut my training time down. I have a job." She told Sam mysteriously and began gathering her things together as if to leave.

"Hey, don't leave. What job?" Cassie pursed her lips as if considering her request.

"I'm going to be a teacher." Cassie sighed. "It wasn't my idea, I'm no good with kids."

"I've seen you with kids, you will be just fine." Sam hadn't even considered what would happen to the children's education. She had every confidence in Cassie who had always been clever and creative. "When do you start?"

"I have this week to train and prepare with the others." Cassie stood with her tray looking over her shoulder. "I uh, have to go. Sorry Sam." Sam snuck a glance over her shoulder and saw a young military man she didn't recognize standing by the door.

"Be safe." She teased. Cassie shot her a horrified look and Sam started laughing. She turned to find Teal'c and Daniel had been watching the whole interaction and they were laughing too. Oh, wait until Jack heard. Poor Cassie was never going to hear the end of it.

**TBC.**


	17. Chapter 17

The Virus

Chapter 17

..

Sam arrived back at their room first and she slipped out of her BDU's and into shorts and an old t-shirt. She hadn't wasted space packing pyjamas before the evacuation. She began un-packing the rest of her clothes, she folded them neatly and placed them in the top two drawers of the dresser provided. When she straightened and caught sight of her reflection in the mirror she paused. She hadn't actually seen her reflection in a while, a mirror was something else she hadn't bothered packing. She discovered her hair had grown more than she had expected. She wondered if the General would still insist the women cut their hair short, she missed having long hair and hoped he would disregard that regulation.

She had just settled in bed with a book when Jack arrived back. He looked over at her and then around the room, probably noting the lack of bags. She had proceeded to unpack his things too and stored all their bags and boxes under the bed. She hoped he didn't mind her going through his things. She hadn't opened the little box that she knew held things of sentimental value to him. She had just placed it in one of the drawers she had designated 'his'.

"Your things are in the lower drawers." She closed the book and placed it on her bedside table, suddenly feeling nervous. Maybe she shouldn't have unpacked his things without asking. She caught his eye and found he already knew exactly what she was worrying about and he gave her a reassuring smile. She relaxed back against the pillows. Sometimes she wondered how she got so lucky. Jack understood her without her needing to say a word.

"Thanks," he told her and came over and sat on the edge of the bed taking her hand in his and entwining his fingers with hers. "I get you all to myself tonight." He bent down and kissed her forehead, and then her nose, and then her lips before leaning back to look back down at her.

"Yes you do," she agreed, giving him a coy smile.

"I must be the luckiest man in the world." He ran his thumb tenderly over the top of her hand. "I don't know why you would want to be with a loser like me."

"You are not a loser." She frowned. She hated it when he was self-depreciating like this. "You are far from it. I consider myself lucky to have you Jack." She told him seriously. "When I first realized… I had feelings for you… I thought you were out of my league. I thought you would _never_ care for me the way I did you." He looked shocked at her words and he just shook his head as if he couldn't believe it. "I love you." She told him. She hadn't said the words since the first time they had made love… but she meant them with all her heart.

"I love you too." He bent down and gave her a kiss and she felt as if her heart would burst. She watched him silently from the bed as he undressed and found something to sleep in too. When he slipped under the covers next to her and pulled her into his arms she felt a completely different energy around him.

"You know, this is the first time I get to make love to you somewhere private." He kissed the sensitive spot on her neck and she shivered in delight. He knew her so well already. "We can make as much noise as we want." He told her huskily and leant over, capturing her lips with his.

..

She woke snuggled in Jack's arms and she again revelled in the quiet of the room. No voices outside, no clattering of pots and pans, not even any bird song. Although the latter wasn't something she disliked, it had been quite nice waking up to the sound of birds.

They had made the most of their first night of real privacy and she ached in all the right places. Between rounds the tender and sensitive side of Jack O'Neill came to the surface. She held onto his every word, every feeling he spoke of. He didn't open up about things like Charlie, Sara or even the confusion over his feelings for her over the years… but last night he had opened himself to her completely. This was better than an '_I love you_' it was an _'I trust you with my heart'_. She snuggled in closer breathing in his scent and listening contentedly to his breathing. She placed one hand over his heart and let the thud-thud lull her into that lovely place just between waking and sleeping.

"Good morning," she felt his voice vibrate through his chest and she tilted her head up to see him. "Damn I like waking up to a gorgeous woman looking at me like that." He grinned. "Maybe we could skip today and just stay in bed?" She giggled, if only.

"As much as I like that plan…"

"Awww c'mon Sam…"

"We have work to do."

"At least we get to shower this morning."

"Crap! What time is it?" She threw the covers off the bed and searched the ground for her watch she knew she had discarded at some point during their activities last night. "Oh no, we only have ten minutes left for a shower. I didn't realize how late it was."

"Surely if we are a little late the next group won't mind waiting…" He rolled over, clearly intending to go back to sleep.

"We need to set an example and stick to the routine." She pulled the blankets off him and began tugging on yesterday's clothes.

"Ugh," he made a noise of disgust. "So bossy and we haven't even had a coffee yet!"

"Stop whining!" She threw some clean clothes in a bag and sent a cheeky grin over her shoulder. "See you later, I'm not missing out on my first real shower in more than two weeks!" He was standing in just his underwear looking so adorably half-asleep. She had to fight the urge to run back and kiss him senseless.

..

Once she had showered she headed back to the gate room to work with Walter again. She found herself humming some unnamed tune under her breath and she had a bit of a bounce to her step. Jack was a lifesaver, truly. She was beginning to feel like her old confident self and she just didn't know if she could have recovered this fast without him.

"Good morning Walter," she sat down at the computer she had been at the day before and tapped the keyboard to get it up and running. It was then the klaxons began going off and she had to resist the urge to cover her ears.

_Off world activation._

"There is no IDC, Major Carter."

"Keep the Iris closed, Walter." General Hammond, Jack and Teal'c entered to stand behind them. She watched through the window as fifteen or so military men entered through the doors on either side of the gate room, firearms raised.

"Wait… Tok'ra. It's Tok'ra IDC!" Sam leapt to her feet and dodged between Jack and Teal'c to get out the door.

She watched her dad walk down the ramp a frown on his face. She stood at attention with General Hammond, Jack and Teal'c now at her side. She wanted to run up the ramp and throw her arms around him… but as a Major it wasn't really the kind of behaviour that was expected from her.

"Sam," the moment her dad was within reach she put her arms around him.

"Dad," she kissed him on the cheek and stepped back, taking in his appearance. He looked okay… tired but healthy. If he were injured when the goa'uld attacked – Selmak would have healed him.

"Dad," She heard Jack say beside her and his hand shot out to shake her dads.

"Hello Jack," her dad responded. "Teal'c," he shook Teal'c's hand and then turned to the General last. "Hello George, old friend." He shook the General's hand with a smile. "I am pleased to see you all alive and well." He told them seriously.

"We are pleased to see you too Jacob." The General told him. "Now, shall we all head up to the mess hall? I believe its Blue's breakfast and we don't want to miss out." The five of them headed out the gate room and collected Walter on their way.

She was surprised to see her dad so soon. She had planned on speaking to Jack about whether they should 'officially' tell her dad they were together, or just let him figure it out for himself. She was leaning towards the latter though and knowing Jack as she did… she knew which one he would choose.

..

She spent the morning updating her dad on all that had happened since she had last seen him. Jack joined her for the majority of the conversation and while neither she nor Jack were publicly affectionate with each other… she knew her dad had picked up on something. He kept glancing between them and narrowing his eyes. So of course the moment Jack left the room her dad raised an eyebrow in her direction and she just _knew_ what he was going to say.

"So it looks like you and Jack have finally been courageous enough to take a step in the right direction then?"

"Yes," she pressed her lips together tightly. She hated talking about _men_ with her dad, it was so uncomfortable.

"I'm glad, Sam." He reached forward and took her hand in his. "I've watched you two for years and you both deserve to be happy."

"Thanks, Dad." She stood up, now was a good time to finish up their little catch up. Not only did she have a lot to do… it also meant she could cut their conversation on Jack short. "I had better get back to work, I assume you will have to head home soon?"

"Yes, Selmak is needed. Let's head down to the Stargate." She knew her dad would be relieved too. He was never really good at the _feelings_ talk… he was like Jack in that sense.

On their trip down they bumped into Jack. She watched as her dad pulled him aside and though they thought she couldn't hear from where she was standing, she heard every word.

"I trust you with her, Jack." Her dad told him. "I know you would never intentionally hurt her. I know you well enough now to know she made a good choice." He patted Jack on the shoulder.

"Thanks _dad_." Jack put emphasis on the _dad_ and his lips turned up into a smile. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her dad may not have the most intimidating appearance but on meeting her previous boyfriends he had managed to threaten them simply with his words. She had always wondered how her dad would react if she and Jack did end up together… now she knew.

When they reached the gate room her dad pulled her in for one last bone crushing hug. He told her he loved her and took a step back.

"I will see you soon." He promised and she smiled as she watched him head up the ramp. They had touched on the topic of Mark and his family earlier in the day. She had seen the pain in his expression… but like her – he was not one for breaking down in front of people. She knew he would have to grieve at some point and she was incredibly glad Selmak would be there to help him through…

**TBC.**


	18. Chapter 18

The Virus

Chapter 18

..

Not long after dinner there was a knock at Sam's bedroom door. She opened it to find a smiling Cassie with her arms full of clothes.

"Hey Cass, what's this all about?" She stepped aside letting the girl into the room. Cassie dropped everything she had onto the bed and spread out the items of clothing.

"One of the girls I bunk with was in charge of cleaning the VIP rooms… like this one… which is nice by the way!" The girl looked around in admiration.

"And?"

"Oh! So she let us pick the clothes we wanted. I grabbed some for you too."

"That's great, thank you!" She eyed the clothes. Something other than the one civilian outfit she had and her military uniforms would be fantastic. She found a flannel dressing gown, a summer dress, a pair of stockings and a couple of pairs of jeans and t-shirts… and a sexy looking night gown. "Uh… really Cass?" She picked it up between her thumb and forefinger and held it away from her body. "Not really my thing…" The door burst open and Jack raised his eyebrows at the sight before him. She quickly dropped the offensive item back on the bed and shrugged.

"I brought Sam some clothes." Cassie said with a pleased smile on her face.

"Why didn't you bring me any?" Jack asked.

"Sorry Jack, the guys in the bunk room opposite us took them all."

"Well I liked what you were holding when I walked in," he sent a sleazy smile in Sam's direction before striding over to the bed and picking the nightgown up. "What do you think?" He held it against his body and Sam couldn't help but giggle. Cassie started laughing hysterically and ended up sitting on the floor wiping tears from her eyes.

"Well I'm not going to wear it!" Sam told him when she could finally keep a straight face.

"Not even for me?" Jack asked, he put on his best puppy dog eyes. She had to admit, it was tempting when he looked at her like that.

"Hey guys I'm still here!" Cassie called out from the floor.

"Not even for you, Jack." She grabbed the hideous piece of clothing from his hand and tossed it at Cassie. "You keep it!"

..

Sam had put away all the clothes Cassie had given her and changed into her "pyjamas" aka: her shorts and t-shirt. She knew she still had plenty of work she could be doing downstairs but everything that had happened to them was starting to take its toll and she was exhausted. She knew unless she got a good night's sleep she would just be a hindrance to Walter, not a help.

"You having an early night?" Jack was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room, his feet stretched out in front of him, feet resting on the coffee table. He was holding file folders on his lap and though he was supposed to be reading them his eyes had been on her more than on the papers.

"I need a good sleep, I'm pretty tired." She told him. Before she could speak any further, the phone rang. She let Jack answer it and covered her face with a pillow. She _really_ didn't want to have to get out of bed now, she had only _just_ got in.

Jack filled her in. Apparently they had a meeting in General Hammond's office at 0730 the following morning. She gratefully pulled the pillow from her face and snuggled under the covers further. She found her eyes on Jack. He still sat with the folder still open in his lap. He was staring blindly at the wall opposite him though and she could tell he had something on his mind. Normally she would wait until he brought it up but now that things were changing for them she decided to push her luck. She assumed he knew what tomorrow's meeting with the General was about.

"Something on your mind?" She found she still had to fight the urge to add a 'Sir' when speaking to him. She wondered if that habit would ever die.

"Yes" He looked over at her for a moment his eyes not reaching hers.

"Are you going to tell me about it?" She felt a bubble of concern growing within her. He was looking worried, and for a man who rarely showed his emotions… this was not good.

"I haven't decided yet." He sighed and fiddled with the papers he was holding.

"Uh huh..." She patted his side of the bed. "You are clearly not getting any work done." He stayed in his seat for a few moments and she wondered if he was going to ignore her request. Instead he threw the folders at the coffee table and most of them slid off and onto the ground. He left them there and stood up.

"I just wish people would mind their own business." She felt her jaw drop. Was he mad she was prying? He looked over at her and seeing her expression hurried to explain. "No, no. Not you." He came around the bed and slipped in next to her.

"Come here." He gently moved her towards him and she gratefully curled up against his body, her head resting on his shoulder. "Ah. I was talking to Daniel and Teal'c today and it seems word _us_ has gotten around."

"Well that's not surprising. It's not a secret..."

"No but apparently it's not just gossip now. Someone... or possibly more than one person has an issue with it."

"Not everyone would know you are classed as a civilian now so maybe they think we are going against regulations?"

"Which brings us to another problem. Chain of command... just because I've technically resigned... and I'm taking up position here as a civilian... people will still have an issue with us working together. You know why the regulations are in place?"

"If two people become romantically involved it could adversely affect or have the reasonable potential to adversely affect the Air Force by eroding morale, good order, discipline, respect for authority, unit cohesion or mission accomplishment." She knew his question was rhetorical, but she answered anyway. She knew the damn frat reg's like the back of her hand. How many times had she read over them and hoped for a loophole?

"Yes... so from what Daniel says we are going to have problems. I assume that's why the general wants to see us in the morning. We need to come up with a solution of some sort to keep the peace."

"I see." She smiled up at him reassuringly. "We will figure something out. I still want to work with you and I know from experience we work well together and would not risk our team under any circumstances. It's not like..." She trailed off. "I guess what I'm trying to say is. I've had feelings for you for a very long time. It's never caused issues in the past. Well apart from the za'tarc incident but that's not really our fault."

"I know, but convincing others of this won't be as easy. It's not like we can make a public announcement. Hey I've been in love with her for years and years without incident. Trust me!" He told her with a snort of laughter.

"Jack... trust _me_… this will blow over. Tension is high and we have all been through a lot." She sighed. "A lot." She repeated quietly.

"Yes we have." He gave her a gentle squeeze and she snuggled in closer.

"I'm going to try and sleep. We can talk about it with the General in the morning."

"Sweet dreams." He kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

She had heard talk about her relationship with Jack too. Over the years she had become used to it. The rumours were rife at the SGC... as far as she could tell it started after an incident where they were infected by a disease on P3X797. The disease caused primitive behaviour... they all became rather animal-like and she had unfortunately tracked down the Colonel and thrown herself at him. Word got out and it became rather twisted as the rumour spread. After that, things escalated.

She had heard snippets of conversation in hallways and more often than not in the female locker room. It was a relief when SG-1 finally got their own. She had become tired of stepping out of the shower, fuelled with rage and embarrassment to a bunch of women who had been talking about her. She would angrily tell them how far off they were and how inappropriate it was to be speaking of their superior officers that way. Of course the women would apologise profusely, but Sam wasn't stupid. She knew they would continue talking about her behind her back. It meant making friends with her female counterparts all but impossible. She knew they weren't all the same... but how would she know who she could trust? She had thought high school was bad... it was just as bad in the Air Force.

..

They entered General Hammond's office, exchanged greetings and took their usual seats opposite his desk. Although she had remained positive the night before when discussing the issue with Jack, she felt tense now that she had to speak about something so personal with General Hammond. Jack was being his normal sarcastic self… but she could feel the undercurrent of stress radiating from him too.

"I'm thinking you know why I've brought you here?" The General began.

"Affirmative Sir," Jack answered with a smirk.

"Good. We can get straight to it then. I'm organizing to have an interview with all the personnel currently on base. I'm hoping this way I can figure out who has their concerns..." He trailed off, giving them a meaningful look. "It also gives everyone the opportunity to have their say on the current living and work arrangements."

"Concerns… about us Sir?" She just needed to confirm they were all on the same page.

"Yes. I had planned on speaking to everyone personally anyway… I'm just pushing it forward a bit. I've heard mutterings and know there are... concerns that the two of you are working together. Of course not everyone knows you have resigned either, Jack."

"What will you say to those people who _are _upset about us working together?" Jack asked.

"I will tell them Jack has resigned and there are no current regulations forbidding it. I will give them my word that you working together is in everyone's best interests."

"Thank you sir," Sam told him, breathing a sigh of relief.

"It is only the truth. Though it may be a long way off I hope to restart the Stargate program. The Goa'uld will have no interest on earth at this stage since the majority of the population has been wiped out... but they will become a threat in the future no doubt. I need SG-1 if I want to succeed."

"But?" Jack prompted. She had seen the 'but' coming too, and shared a knowing smile with Jack. All that flattery from the General had to lead to a _'but'._

"If there is any sign that you are not doing what is necessary to fulfil your duties I will reassign one or both of you."

"Understandable." Jack responded.

"That won't be a problem." Sam smiled.

..

"That went well..." She bumped her shoulder into Jack's playfully as they walked down to the elevator.

"Sure did." As usual, Jack didn't elaborate.

"It won't stop people gossiping, but at least we don't have to worry about being split up at this stage." She told him.

"There is always gossip." He frowned disapprovingly. "Human nature."

"Yeah I was thinking that last night." She chuckled and hit the elevator button for their floor.

"There were some interesting rumours running around the SGC."

"Did you hear the one where we secretly had a kid… but because we wanted to keep our relationship hidden we put it up for adoption _off world_!

"Oh boy." She let out a giggle. "That's brilliant."

"We are famous." He grinned.

"I was so pleased when we finally got our own locker room. Women are known for gossiping."

"I was pleased too." He smirked... "For different reasons… like when we were in a rush to get geared up and you just changed in the room with us." He pushed open their bedroom door. She turned around and before she could take a step he trapped her against said door with a hand on either side of her head. "Those glimpses fuelled _many_ fantasies." She felt a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Naughty, Sir." She used his title playfully and noticed his eyes light up.

"Ah and that was one of them. Hearing you say _'Sir_' in that tone."

She had planned on getting an early start on her work for the day… but it looked like Jack had _other_ ideas… not that she had any problem with that.

**TBC.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Authors Note:** Sorry, I haven't forgotten my story! Real-life just suddenly took over. It's been pretty horrific actually. *sigh* Hopefully things can only go up from here. As usual reviews are welcome (and very much appreciated)! I suppose this chapter is more of a "lead up" than anything and hopefully it's not _dull_!

..

The Virus

Chapter 19

..

Cabin fever. This was not something she had felt often over the course of her life… but the intensity with which she felt it now was driving her crazy. She had argued with both Cassie and Jack on numerous occasions over the past week or so and she _knew_ there was only petty reasoning behind her anger… but she felt like her entire body was fizzing with energy that she couldn't release.

She knew that there was a team setting up the first floor as a decontamination level. This meant that a team would soon embark on a mission to search for survivors. General Hammond had showed them the plans for the first floor and there would be plenty of isolation rooms set up. The doctors from the planet "Iso," which was now the new Alpha site would be returning to tend to any survivors they might bring back.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She glanced up from her table in the commissary to see Jack sitting opposite her. She had forgotten he was there to be honest, she had been so lost in her thoughts.

"I'm sure you know what I'm thinking." She cringed when her voice came out much sharper than she had intended. "Sorry… I just need to get outside. I need sun and fresh air…" She sighed at the images her words brought up in her mind. Trees swaying in the breeze, the warmth of the sun on her face…

"Yeah but the problem is even when we _do_ go outside… it will only be in those hideous orange suits." She knew he was finding being stuck on base rather frustrating too. "Wait…" She watched his eyes light up. "I have an idea!" He came around the table and touched her shoulder, silently telling her to get up.

He led her down to Hammond's office. The door was open and Hammond sat on the other side of his desk looking at them in surprise.

"I thought I told you to take a day off?" He asked them, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes you did… we want to go to the Alpha site." Jack looked over at her, grinning proudly. Of course! It might not be outside on Earth, but it was still somewhere with fresh air and sunshine. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it herself!

"Why would you want to do that?" The General frowned, looking worried.

"We just need to get out of here for five minutes, Sir." Sam gave the General her most charming smile, and she was pleased when he returned it – looking relieved at their simple request.

"Alright, let me talk to Walter. You need to stay out of everyone's way though. There is a lot of construction going on." He looked at Jack as he spoke, and then turned to Sam. "Keep him out of trouble, will you?" She let out a small laugh. It was nice to hear General Hammond joking again.

..

The moment she stepped through the wormhole she tilted her face up to the sun. She was pretty sure she had _never _been this excited to be outside. She felt like a kid on Christmas morning. She looked at Jack out of the corner of her eye and found he was staring at her.

She descended the steps leading down from the gate and watched her feet as she stepped onto the sandy turf. She dug her toes in and moved the sand with her booted foot unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face.

"Shall we take a walk?" Jack asked, holding his arm out towards her. She tucked her arm into his in answer and they set off away from the noise of construction coming from somewhere to the right of the gate. They would go and investigate later, for now it was time to just take pleasure in the small wonder of being outdoors again.

..

On returning they were summoned to the briefing room and she was pleased to see Teal'c and Daniel seated at the table as well as General Hammond. They had only been gone for less than half a day but it looked like things were moving forward. This meant they might be closer to their first mission as SG-1 than she had thought!

"How was your day?" Daniel asked as she took the seat next to him.

"Oh, it was heaven." She grinned and Daniel returned the smile.

"Yes, I must admit going to Chulak with Teal'c last week was amazing. You forget what it feels like to have the breeze run through your hair when you are here all the time." Daniel told them, a faraway look in his eyes.

She looked over at Teal'c who raised both eye brows in typical Teal'c fashion. She believed the look meant '_good to see you_' but really with her jaffa friend, she was never one hundred percent. The General cleared his throat to get their attention and all of SG-1 turned their heads in his direction.

He spent the next hour briefing them on their next mission. They were to head above ground, as she had assumed. They were to search for survivors while another team brought back food, medical supplies and anything else that might be needed on base.

In only two days Level 1 would be ready for use. In only two days she and the rest of SG-1 would be going on their first mission and this both thrilled and terrified her at the same time. After their last visit to the surface… well she knew that this mission would be the hardest. It wasn't a simple look around, this time they had a task and it would not necessarily be easy. There would be many things to contend with. They_ might_ find survivors – sure – but in what state? There would be new diseases to worry about now. There were billions of bodies decomposing, no power, not likely to be any workable sewerage systems, no operational hospitals… diseases like typhoid, campylobacter, giardia and other diseases which had often been rife in developing countries would now be an issue. Their job had _never_ been easy but having to rescue people on Earth literally hit a little close to home…

**TBC.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Authors Note: **My brain feels fuzzy tonight… every time I go over this chapter my brain says… Nope not quite right. I hope there aren't too many mistakes in this chapter. Please don't be afraid to tell me!

**..**

This time they chose to forgo the use of Jacks truck in favour of a military truck. It made more sense considering they would hopefully be bringing back survivors. She and Teal'c were seated in the rear of the truck… She had forgotten how much she_ hated_ riding in the back. She was being thrown around like a ragdoll.

All those years ago when she had been in the academy and learning to drive one of the trucks with her team she had been adept at keeping her balance and rolling with the vehicle. They had taken turns driving and being passengers but it seems learning those skills were _not_ like riding a bike... she had forgotten them already.

"Everyone alright back there?" Jacks voice crackled through the speakers.

"Yes a little rocky… Perhaps you could slow down a little Sir." She had decided that calling him Jack while on a mission would never feel _right_ to her… so for now she was sticking with _Sir_ despite the fact she knew the man rather intimately now. She smirked at the thought and ducked her head so Teal'c wouldn't see her expression.

"Major Carter is correct. This is most unpleasant." Teal'c commented. At Teal'c's words Jack slowed down and she smiled gratefully over at him.

They rode the rest of the way in silence only sharing the odd grimace of pain when Jack had to leave the road and drive over rougher terrain.

The moment the engine was switched off she gratefully leapt from the truck and onto solid ground. She found they were on the same street they had visited the last time they had been above ground on Earth, they were even parked in the same spot. It was due to the fact that the roads were still blocked by numerous cars parked haphazardly across the street. They couldn't drive any further unless they removed the vehicles.

At first she thought there were piles of rubbish burning in the gaps between the abandoned cars but on closer inspection she realized they were human remains. It had crossed her mind they might find this, but it didn't make it any less horrific. She was again incredibly glad for the decontamination suit she wore – however uncomfortable it might be – at least she couldn't _smell_ the burning flesh.

"There must be survivors then," she heard Daniel mutter more to himself than to them. He was right, someone was burning the bodies. This was a rational first move for any survivor… they needed to rid themselves of any source of the virus _and_ prevent any diseases that might come about from the billions of decomposing bodies all over Earth. She shuddered at the gruesome thought.

"Helloooo, anybody home?" Jack called out.

As they walked down the street she remained silent and watchful. It wasn't until they had reached the third fire on the street that Jack suddenly raised a fisted hand to stop them moving forward. He seemed to be looking in the direction of the grocery store, or what was left of it. It took her a moment but she finally found what he was looking at.

"Hello, we are here to help." It was Daniel who called out this time. He had a much less intimidating voice than Jack, and always seemed to know the right words to say.

"You should leave. I'm not alone ya' know!" It sounded like a girl.

The figure near the doorway shifted slightly and she and the rest of SG-1 automatically dropped to the ground assuming they were about to be attacked. She crawled forward on her hands and knees using the nearest car as a shield until she reached Jack.

"Did you get a good look at her?" She asked him, following his line of sight to the now empty doorway.

"Teenage girl, slight, not sure if she was armed it was hard to tell." He didn't move, but kept his eyes on the doorway.

"We only want to help you. We can offer you food, shelter and medical care." She tried speaking this time, maybe a woman's voice would be less daunting for her.

"Why would you want to help us?" The girl answered, she sounded as though she were somewhere near the doorway still. "I'm with the air force. I'm Major Carter and with me is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Doctor Daniel Jackson and... Teal'c." The Jaffa's name always fell flat after all the ranks and titles that went before the rest of the teams names.

"Okay. Major Carter l will talk to you." The girl waved an arm from the doorway beckoning her over. Jack looked back at her and she raised her eyebrows in silent question. _I'll go if you want me to?_ She silently asked.

"Go," He frowned. "But be careful." She tried to give him a reassuring smile but she had her own misgivings. They weren't sure if the girl was armed yet. Sam did wear a vest beneath her suit but the rest of her was still unprotected.

"I'm coming over now," She kept her P-90 slung over her shoulder. She knew it was a risk and she might scare the girl but she had to be able to defend herself and her team if necessary. "I'm not going to use my weapon unless you give me reason to." When she entered the store she felt her eyes bulge, this was not what she had expected to see.

There was the teenage girl she assumed they had been talking to... she had bright blue hair, the roots of her hair had begun growing back a dark blonde. It was the sight behind her that had surprised her. There was a motley group of children! The teenage girl held the knife in front of her threateningly, she was clearly not someone to be messed with. The look on her face spoke of a girl willing to do anything to protect herself and in this case those in her care too.

"How do I know you are who you say you are?" She demanded. Some of the smaller children shrunk back in fear at the sight of Sam in her bright orange suit.

"It says Carter here," She turned slightly and awkwardly pointed to her shoulder. "I don't have my credentials on me... but you can also see we arrived in a military vehicle." The girl kept staring at her but the knife wavered in her hand and she was chewing her lip as if considering her words.

"Ah hell, what have we got to lose?" The girl dropped the arm with the knife until it hung limply at her side. "Simon give her Dana." A boy who looked of a similar age to the girl looked between the girl and Sam the shock evident on his face.

"Lucy... are you sure?" So the girl was called Lucy. They now knew her name… that was a start she supposed.

"Simon!" Lucy turned on the boy and shoved him out of her way. "You stand there." She pointed to where she had been standing. She then turned to the children, some were now crying and huddling together closer than ever. The sight of her in the de-con suit was probably terrifying to them. "Dana, honey." Lucy gently lifted a scrawny little girl who looked to be about three or four from the ground where she lay.

Dana was deathly pale beneath a mixture of ash and dirt that covered her from head to toe. Lucy cradled the girl in her arms like a new born baby and whispered something to her before striding over to Sam, and with her eyes flashing defiantly she placed Dana into her arms. "She needs a Doctor." Dana didn't even stir and it was then she realized the girl was unconscious.

Lucy lifted her knife and brought it close to her face and it was then Sam realized her mistake. She had been so focused on the sick child in her arms she had forgotten that now both her hands were occupied and her gun was out of reach unless she dropped Dana.

"Leave now!" Lucy suddenly barked at her. Sam felt her heart begin to thump painfully in her chest. She remained standing still until Lucy finally stepped back taking the knife away.

Sam quickly obeyed the order and backed towards the door before Lucy changed her mind and took Dana back. She kept her eyes on Lucy and Simon, they seemed to be the biggest threat but she hadn't failed to notice that many of the older children on the floor also held various weapons.

"Sir," she spoke into her head unit. "I am coming out with a kid."

"Brilliant," she heard Jack answer. "What happened?" She finally turned around now she was a safe distance and looked down at Dana. The girl's breathing was shallow, her chest rising and falling was hardly noticeable at all. "Does she have the Virus?" He stood a few feet away staring at her.

"I don't know Sir, sorry. There are a lot more children in there but Lucy and some of the other kids are armed. She doesn't trust us but knew that Dana would die either way so conceded to handing her over." She babbled and began walking to the jeep. She heard Jack follow her.

"Sam," he touched her shoulder. "If she's got the virus it's not a good idea to-"

"Jack!" She bit her lip. She shouldn't be yelling at him. "There is a chance she isn't sick… and I think it's worth the risk. It's what Level 1 of Cheyenne Mountain has been re-designed for." When she reached the jeep Jack opened the back and climbed up, reaching down for the girl.

"Okay, fine." He waited for Sam to get into the back and then jumped back out. "I'll contact Teal'c and Daniel and get them to stand watch."

"Thank you," she caught his eyes before he turned to walk away.

He looked confused and she sighed heavily. There was something going on in that head of his, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. Dana's wellbeing came first. She listened as Jack stood outside the truck talking to the rest of SG-1. As gently as possible she lifted the girls t-shirt to check for wounds. She winced when she found a gaping wound over her right ribs, it looked severely infected. She touched the edges of the wound but the girl didn't react at all.

"Daniel's managed to talk to Lucy." Jack started the truck as his voice came over the speakers once more. "We need to return once dropping Dana off at Base. I think Lucy is considering handing over more of the kids."

"That's really good news. I think some of the other kids weren't in great shape either. I don't think Dana – this child - has the virus, she has an infected wound."

She continued inspecting the girl for injuries but was pleased to only found minor cuts and abrasions so she used the medical kit to clean and bind the worst wound over the girl's ribs. It seemed rather pointless but it gave her something to do while she waited for them to arrive back at the mountain. When she had finished she moved the girl into her lap.

The return trip felt like it was taking so much longer and every bump in the road made her clutch the girl tighter to her chest. She whispered to the girl, telling her of the base and how much easier life would be there, and she told her what the Doctor's would do to make her better. She knew it was unlikely Dana could hear her, but she felt like she needed to do something.

"We are almost there, is she okay?"

"She's still alive." She answered simply. There wasn't much more she could say, the wound was bad… especially since the poor kid was malnourished and probably emotionally traumatized. Sam was actually surprised the girl was still alive at all.

**TBC.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Authors Note: **Thanks for all the reviews! I will respond to you all personally the moment I get a chance. I have been busy, busy, busy! :)

**..**

The Virus

Chapter 21

..

Once they had dropped an unconscious Dana to the Doctor's on base they headed straight back to Daniel and Teal'c. The return drive was mostly silent. She kept thinking of all the children she had just seen, of Lucy standing before them with that defiant stare. They must have been attacked previously for the girl to be so concerned about the group's safety. She knew if anyone was going to get through to Lucy it would be Daniel.

When they reached their destination they discovered Daniel and Teal'c were gone from the positions they had last seen them in. She remained just behind Jack watching his six… and though the situation was serious she couldn't help but think it wasn't nearly as fun doing this when he was wearing a suit… that nice ass of his was hidden from view. BDU's were much better! She smirked at her inner thoughts.

"Daniel, Teal'c… come in." Jack stopped a safe distance from the grocery store entrance and she stepped up beside him, turning to face the way they had come, just in case they had been followed. She didn't think Lucy and her motley group of children were the only survivors in the area. There was no way Lucy or even Simon were large enough or strong enough to drag bodies and build up fires hot enough to burn them. She wasn't even sure they would have known to do such a thing.

"We're inside, Jack."

"How's it going?"

"Alright, Lucy says you can both come in now."

Jack turned to smile at her before heading to the entrance. They both kept their weapons at the ready just in case. She wished they didn't have to wear the damn suits though. They not only hindered movement but she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. They had been on them for over four hours now.

"Hi Lucy," she greeted the girl with a reassuring smile. "Dana is in the hands of our best Doctor's now." She didn't add that they were the _only_ Doctor's.

"Hi Sam," Lucy didn't smile, but she wasn't looking defensive anymore. She was seated on the floor in front of the group. Daniel was sitting facing her, cross legged on the floor. Teal'c was standing a good distance away, surveying the room.

"Lucy would like to come and take a look at our set up." Daniel turned to Jack. "I said it would be okay."

"She will have to remain on Level 1." Jack told Daniel, but he faced Lucy as he spoke. "You will have to be looked at by our Doctor's to ensure you don't have the Virus and that you aren't carrying it."

"I understand." Lucy nodded. She then turned and spoke quietly to Simon who looked pale and worried. Sam assumed Lucy was leaving him 'in charge' of the children. While Lucy was distracted Jack sidled closer and spoke to her privately.

"We could zat her and the boy. Take them all back with us." He raised an eyebrow at her. She had been wondering the same thing to be honest. She was disappointed the girl didn't trust them yet and if Lucy's group really was in danger the way she seemed to think they were… in the long run wasn't it better to just take them all _now_?

"You can't do that." She and Jack turned to Daniel who had been listening in. Another downside to the suits, no conversations were really private.

"Why not?" Jack demanded.

"Because Lucy would never trust us. Imagine what she would do when she realized we had betrayed her. She's clearly terrified and from what I know there is a group of _adults_ out there hunting them down. You know that fear and distrust can cause major issues. She might compromise the relative safety of the base, especially if she escapes."

"Fine, fine." Jack waved an arm at Daniel once he had finished his little speech. Sam sighed but had to agree with Daniel. Both options were dangerous for the children and gaining Lucy's trust was probably the safer of the two.

..

When they returned to the base Sam gratefully shed her suit and showered in the decontamination room. When she was fully dressed and feeling more _human_ than she had all day she put on one of the white masks she had been directed to wear and headed down the corridor to the room Dana was in.

The room was small and if she remembered rightly it had once been a supply closet. Dana looked smaller even than before - in the hospital bed. She was almost as white as the sheets beneath her. She was pleased to see someone had brought in a pink mink blanket and placed it over the girl, it brightened the room slightly and made it not quite so scary. A nurse stood next to the machine by the bed, writing down the readings on her clipboard.

"How's she doing?" The nurse turned to face Sam with a smile.

"She's going to have a rather large scar… but she will be just fine, she should wake up soon."

"That's great." Sam approached the girl's bed. Now that she was clean Sam could see she had honey blonde hair and a rather pretty little face. Her hair curled around her face making her look angelic, but then children always seemed to look that way when they slept.

"How's she doing?" She looked up to find Jack in the doorway.

"Sounds like she's going to be just fine." She smiled down at the girl. "Where is Lucy?"

"Daniel's going to show her down here when she's finished being examined by the Doctor's." He stepped up beside her nudged her arm gently. "You okay?"

"I'm good, just thought I'd see how our little patient was doing. The nurse says she make it." Just as she finished speaking a crackle came from Jack's radio, followed by Daniel's voice.

"I'm on my way with Lucy now, the other teams need help unloading so Teal'c and I will have to leave her with you."

"Thanks Daniel," Jack switched off his radio and turned to her. "Looks like we get the job of questioning our feisty teenage visitor. I kind of wish we had Cassie with us."

"She would understand Lucy a lot more than we do." Sam agreed and looked towards the door. They were definitely going to have fun with this one.


	22. Chapter 22

**Authors Note: **I really, _really_ need someone to fangirl with. So please… _please_ if you feel up to helping me with this… flick me a PM! You can add me on Livejournal or Facebook… I don't really know how to work anything other than that. ;)

I just started Stargate Atlantis Season Four… which I'm sure you all know is a rather exciting step in the Atlantis world. Did anyone else notice the photo in S04E02?

Another random question. The bracelets that Sam &amp; Jack wear in Season 7 (I think) and definitely in Season 8… is there some meaning behind them that I haven't figured out?

Anyways… something a little different this time. This chapter is from Lucy's POV. :)

.xx..

Lucy looked down at Dana's still little body. She knew that the medical attention she has received here at Cheyenne Mountain had just given her a fighting chance to survive. Dana's wound had been severely infected though and Lucy knew enough to know that it had gone on long enough that the little girl's internal organs had begun to shut down.

"Excuse me," She ignored the Major and the man... John or Jack or something who stood next to her and turned to the nurse instead. She knew the pair would want to interrogate her but until she knew how Dana was they wouldn't get a single thing from her. "How is she doing?" The nurse have her a patronizing smile and Lucy had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"She will be fine. She had an infection in her wound... but she's on antibiotics now." The nurse gestured to the IV attached to Dana's hand. "I'm also giving her something for the pain. We have cleaned up the wound as best as we can... and treated her other more superficial wounds."

"Thank you." Lucy bent down and gave Dana a kiss on the forehead but kept one eye on the adults in the room. She had been fooled once by adults, she wasn't falling into a trap this time. She had only agreed to 'tour the facility' so that she could find a way to escape with Dana the moment she was strong enough. "Alright, you can question me now." She looked over at the Major with grim determination. She would give only minimal information, she needed to protect the other children.

She stepped towards Major Carter and the man and kept her head held high. They might be bigger and stronger than she was, but Lucy was streetwise, she always had been... she didn't survive by being a pathetic wimp like Simon. Though, wimp or not the one thing she knew for sure was Simon was the most loyal and compassionate person she had ever met.

"We do have a few questions, Lucy." Major Carter smiled. "We could show you around and have a chat on the way."

"Fine." The adults ushered her out the door ahead of them.

"There are 28 levels on base. We are currently on Level 1 which is our decontamination floor. Anyone who seeks refuge will have to remain here in quarantine for seven days and consent to having an examination by one of our doctors." Lucy glanced at the woman beside her in surprise. She hadn't expected to be given information straight away.

"And what if the person does not consent?" She asked. She poked her head into the various rooms they were passing. Each door was labelled clearly _"Quarantine room A", "Storage room B", "Infirmary room C"_ and so on... everything was freakishly organised which she supposed was normal military practice.

"Then they will not be allowed to stay here." This time the man answered. He was a tough one to read. Actually to be honest both had remained rather neutral which was quite refreshing, rather than off putting. The adults they had been with previously kept smiling and speaking in sickly sweet voices. If only she had figured out their motives sooner... She shook her head to clear her mind, it wasn't time to dwell on her regrets. "So… how did you survive?" He asked, his eyes turned to hers, curiosity shone through and she realized she was going to have to give them the truth, and the whole truth. Giving them little titbits on how she and the others survived was just not going to fly with these two.

"It's a long story." She didn't even know where to begin.

"Well we would like to hear it, if you want to tell us." Major Carter smiled and pointed up the hallway. "Are you hungry? We could head down to the upper commissary?"

"Uh... what the heck is a commissary?" Major Carter opened her mouth as if to answer bur the man cut in.

"Lunch room,"

"Yeah, I'm hungry." She followed them in and sat down in the chair Major Carter pulled out for her.

"What do you want to eat?" She sat down in the chair opposite placing both hands palm down on the table between them. Lucy shrugged. She had no idea. She had lived on what she had could scavenge for so long she had forgotten what it was like to have options. "Just pick something for us Jack," Major Carter tilted her head back to look at him. So his name _was_ Jack, not John.

"Major Carter, can I ask you something?" She gave the woman her most charming smile.

"Samantha... or Sam is fine. And yes, go ahead."

"How did _you_ survive? Did you stay in this place?" She noticed Sam's eyes shift away for a moment before she answered. It was the first time Lucy had seen her look uncomfortable. "Er, in a way. Yes. Like you, it's a long story." Lucy sighed.

Jack arrived back with two trays laden with food and a bottle of water for each of them. The sight and smell of the hot food made her stomach growl.

"These are called MRE'S, its short for _meals-ready-to-eat. _They don't taste all that good." Sam told her. Lucy picked up a plate of something that looked and smelled like macaroni and cheese. She felt herself relaxing slightly. She looked up and offered Sam and Jack her first real smile before picking up a fork and digging in. The three ate in silence the only sound was the hum of the florescent lights and the odd scrape of cutlery against their plates.

Lucy managed to polish off her macaroni in record time and even managed to squeeze in a couple of what looked like muesli bars. She was pretty sure it was the most satisfying meal she had ever eaten. She knew she had stretched her stomach more than she should have and after draining her bottle of water in one go she felt a wave of nausea hit her.

"Bathroom?" Lucy gasped out, realizing the food was _definitely_ not going to stay down. Sam looked up from her food with worried eyes.

"The next door on your right." She pointed out of the commissary and Lucy scrambled to her feet and ran into the bathroom only just making it to the sink in time. She vomited until nothing but a painful yellow bile was coming up and she knew at some point Sam has arrived to pull her hair out of her face.

Lucy closed her eyes and revelled in the feeling of the woman's hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. She rarely let herself be touched by another person but in this moment she just let all her worries fall away.

When she finally opened her eyes and unclenched her hands from the side of the sink, Sam immediately stepped back. Lucy looked up at their reflections only to discover she looked like hell. Her face deathly pale, her cheeks sunken in, blonde roots were growing back and the vibrant blue her hair had once been was turning a sickly blue-green.

Sam had a sad look in her eyes and Lucy quickly looked away. She turned the tap on and rinsed her mouth out and splashed water on her face before drying her face and hands on her filthy shirt and turning to Sam who was now hovering in the doorway.

"I'm really sorry Lucy. I should have warned you not to eat and drink too much at once. Let's go back and get you some soup and another bottle of water." Lucy wanted to scream. She was embarrassed and _ugly_ and so damn tired. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to reign in her emotions. It took a few tries but eventually she felt calmer.

"Fine." She trailed behind Sam back to the commissary and found Jack was gone. There was a nurse sitting at a corner table but she didn't look up when they entered.

"I'll be back in a minute." Sam placed a hand reassuringly on Lucy's shoulder and before she could stop herself she flinched away. She couldn't let this woman lull her into a false sense of security. No matter how nice she appeared... _everyone_ had their own agenda.

**TBC.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Authors Note: **Oh boy. So I did my best to avoid spoilers from the very first day that I started watching Stargate SG-1. I finished all 10 seasons and recently re-watched them because I'm geeky like that… I started Stargate Atlantis after that and made the assumption that Sam would be in _both_ season 4 &amp; 5… so of course on finishing the first episode of season 5 I had the sudden urge to _bawl my eyes out_. No more Sam? No more Jack? *cries* I guess I'll just have to re-watch episodes and focus on reading/writing fanfiction. My poor little heart feels like it's shattering into a million pieces. A few months of Stargate goodness and I'm _hooked_. Anyways, enough babbling.

Someone mentioned the group of child survivors reminded them of Star Trek… is Star Trek good? It is something else I have not watched.

Thanks for all your lovely reviews! You all make my day. :) :) :)

..

Sam found Jack in the kitchen. He was leaning casually against the bench watching the door and raised his eyebrows the moment entered the room. She quickly glanced behind her to ensure Lucy hadn't followed and then shut the kitchen door behind her.

"She ate too much. She's obviously emaciated beneath that sweatshirt. I should have warned her not to eat too much so fast." She sighed and set about making the girl soup.

"It's not just your fault." Jack helped her by pulling out a tray and placing a fresh water bottle on it. "I didn't think to say anything either. She's a tough kid by the looks of things. She will be fine." He shot her a reassuring smile but Sam turned away from him. She frowned at the microwave where she had just put Lucy's soup. She wasn't sure whether Jack was right on this. Yes, Lucy was tough... but Sam had the sinking feeling Lucy would never be _'fine'_.

"I think I'll talk to her alone, if you don't mind." She pulled out the bowl of now warm soup and placed it on the tray, finally raising her eyes to meet Jacks. Ultimately he was still in charge, so she couldn't do this without his permission.

"Yeah, go ahead." He shrugged. "I'll go see how Dana is doing."

..xx..

Sam found Lucy staring at the doorway much the same way Jack had been in the kitchen.

"Hey," She sat across from her and slid the tray over. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the girl and hold her until all the pain within her was gone. Lucy gave the impression she was tough, and that she didn't give a shit... but after the _'vomiting_' incident Sam knew better.

"There are a group of adults," Lucy didn't look up from her soup. She took tiny sips from the spoon and then stirred the soup, swirling it round and round until Sam got dizzy and had to look away. "I don't know how far away they travelled but they brought all of us kids to the Centre… Me and a few others came by plane. I'm from DC." Sam remained silent and felt her heart sink. This was sounding ominous so far. "At first we thought the adults were rescuing us." She put emphasis on the word _adults._ "But they started testing on us..." Lucy then fell silent for a long time, seemingly lost in her own memories. She finished her soup and took a few sips from her water bottle.

"Are you okay? You don't have to tell me."

"I never had a mum, you know?" Lucy finally looked up and gave Sam a small smile. "Thanks for helping me back there…" She waved vaguely at the door.

"That's what friends do." Sam smiled back. Lucy frowned at this.

"We aren't friends. Not now anyway. I hope I can trust you though." Lucy but her lip. "Anyway... long story short... kids started disappearing from the Centre. Me and a bunch of other kids snooped around a bit... found out that some of the kids were still at the Centre but the tests had made them... crazy... and the other kids died." Lucy sighed and rubbed at her hair. "You got showers here?"

"Yes we do. I'll show you to them. Do you think I could just ask you a couple of questions?"

"Yeah,"

"When you say you came by plane... where did the plane take off and land?" Sam asked.

"Don't really know. It was dark... I was given something to make me sleep 'cause I was... upset... you know?" Yes, Sam thought she might know. Despite how brave Lucy was... watching the entire population of Earth get sick and in most cases die around you... well that would make ANYONE upset.

"Okay.." Lucy placed both hands on the table and Sam reached over without thinking, taking one of her hands in her own she gave it a gentle squeeze. Lucy looked down at their hands and her expression went from one of surprise to one of horror and she yanked her hands back into her lap with a scowl.

"Sorry..." Sam sighed internally. Earning Lucy's trust was going to be a long process. "One more question... do you know what they were testing for?"

"For a cure, of course." Lucy looked at her like she was the stupidest person she had ever come across. Sam pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. If wasn't often in her life she got that look. She had of course assumed the testing had something to do with the virus. She just needed confirmation from Lucy.

"Alright I'll show you to the showers."

..xx..

Sam snuggled down in her cot and turned to face Jack. He lay on the cot beside her. Daniel and Teal'c shared the quarantine room with them. There wasn't any point in going through the rigmarole of the decontamination to get down to their quarters and again in the morning to go back outside.

"You okay?" He whispered.

"Yes I'm fine." She gave him a small smile. It kind of felt like 'the old days' having him lying so far - yet so close. She knew a night sleeping without his arms around her wouldn't kill her... hell she had spent years sleeping alone wishing she could curl up in his arms... but knowing she _could _if it weren't for the tiny cots they slept on being too small for both of them... it was rather frustrating.

"Lucy put up much of a fight when you asked her to stay here tonight?" He asked, again in a whisper so as not to wake Daniel and Teal'c.

"No... I was surprised. I think she's exhausted. We went to see Dana then the nurse set her up in one of the infirmary beds so she could be monitored."

"Good. Poor kid probably needs a good night's sleep." By this stage she herself was having trouble keeping her eyes open, it had been a long day. She heard Jacks murmured 'sweet dreams' and gave in, closing her eyes. Tomorrow would hopefully bring them more answers.

**TBC.**

**Authors Note: **Sorry I haven't updated much. My granddad just died so I have been crazy busy with funeral preparations. :( I should have the next couple of chapters up this weekend though. :)


	24. Chapter 24

**Authors Note: **Thank you _so_ much for all your kind words. The funeral was beautiful and I know my grandad would have been happy with it.

I'm a little unsure about this chapter… but I'm just at a loss as to what to do to fix it right now! So… here goes…

..xx..

The Virus

Chapter 24

..xx..

Sam woke with a start. It took her a few moments to figure out where she was. She had fallen asleep with the rest of SG-1 in the room but they must have all gotten up before her. Annoyed, she threw on clothes and finger brushed her hair. She hated sleeping in. Jack should have woken her! He of all people knew this.

She headed straight for the upper commissary and on entering found 'her' boys sitting around a table with steaming mugs of what she _hoped _was coffee.

"I hope that's coffee." She snuck forward and grabbed Jacks mug and quickly took a step back out of reach. His reflexes were fast, but she was faster. She lifted the mug to her nose and inhaled the heavenly scent of coffee.

"Oi! That's mine!" She took a mouthful and lowered the mug, only to give him a teasing smile. Jacks eyes widened and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Get a room," Daniel muttered.

"Indeed," that one came from Teal'c. She rolled her eyes and handed the now mostly empty mug back to Jack.

"There you go Sir," She told him innocently. Before heading to the kitchen to make her own as he had told her to.

"Sam!" She had just reached the kitchen door when she heard Lucy's voice calling her name. She turned to find the teenager dressed in BDU's that were far too big for her tiny frame.

"Good morning Lucy," despite the baggy clothes the girl did look better than she had the day before. She had obviously had a shower and brushed her hair and she had a bit more colour in her cheeks.

"If the rest of the kids want to come and live here… then I want them to be brought back." She had reached Sam and stood a few feet away a serious look on her young face. "But only if they want to. They might not trust you."

"Lucy…" Sam bit her bottom lip. Was it a good idea to say what she was thinking? Probably not… "I saw the way the other kids looked at you. If you tell them it is okay, they will come with you."

"If this all goes to hell, I don't want them blaming me." Lucy heaved a sigh and Sam realized how fast this girl must have had to grow up since the Virus hit.

"I assure you we would do everything in our power to keep you all happy and healthy." She gestured to the kitchen. "I'm going to make a coffee, do you want something?"

"Can I have a coffee too?"

"Uh…" Sam raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you can. How old are you anyway?"

"I'm fifteen." Lucy rolled her eyes. "I've been drinking coffee for years, c'mon…?"

"Okay, okay." She set about making coffee for herself, Lucy and one to replace Jack's since she had gulped down half of his.

"Are you going back to see Simon and the others today?" Lucy pulled herself up onto the bench, her legs dangling over the edge.

"I think that was the plan."

"If you think they will listen to _me_… can I come with you?" Sam could see that Lucy was trying to keep her expression neutral but she saw the hope sparkling in the girls pretty brown eyes.

"I'll have to ask Jack."

"He's your boyfriend huh?"

"Uh, yes… I guess." Sam felt a blush rise to her cheeks. _Boyfriend_? Sometimes it felt incredibly strange to think of the man who was once her commanding officer as her _boyfriend_.

"I had a boyfriend… before… you know…" Lucy said airily. "He got the virus though." Sam handed the girl a mug and felt her heart flutter in her chest. She had hardly scratched the first layer of Lucy's life and already it was sounding horrendous.

"What was his name?" Sam perched on the bench a few feet away, giving Lucy plenty of space.

"Jacob, we all called him Jake though." Lucy took a sip of her coffee and shot Sam a smile. "Thanks, this is good."

"My dad's name is Jacob."

"Your dad still alive?"

"Yeah, he is." Sam contemplated asking Lucy about her own father but decided that having Lucy _choose_ to talk in such a relaxed fashion… well it was best to just leave her to it.

"My dad was a cop for a while." Lucy looked down into her coffee and bit her lip. "He got shot though and lived on disability. He was pretty depressed after that."

"I'm sorry to hear that Lucy," she reached over and gently patted the girls shoulder and was pleased to find she didn't flinch away. They sat in comfortable silence for a bit until Sam remembered SG-1 was still in the commissary and Jack's coffee was getting cold.

"Do you want to go get breakfast now? I need to give Jack his coffee." She could tell Lucy had said all she wanted to anyway, she felt pleased that the girl had said as much as she had. "We can ask him about you coming with us today." Lucy leapt neatly off the bench and moved to stand in front of Sam, surprising her with an openly friendly smile on her face.

"Thanks… for everything… Sam." She held out a hand and Sam cautiously reached out, taking the teenagers hand in her own and giving her a firm handshake.

"You are more than welcome," Sam hopped down too and headed for the kitchen door. It was nice having Lucy open up a little this morning. They had a long way to go… but it was a start for sure.

**TBC.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Authors Note: **

**..**

Lucy sat between Sam and Jack in the front of the truck telling them about some of the children they were about to pick up. Teal'c and Daniel sat in the rear this time and Sam did not envy them. Outside the wind was picking up and buffeting the truck from what felt like _all_ directions. She was pleased they would be getting this motley bunch of children off the streets and into the relative safety of the base. She was pleased Jack had agreed to have Lucy come along with them, she was pretty sure they would have no luck bringing Simon and the other children back to the base without her – Jack had obviously felt the same.

"How old is the youngest of the children?" Sam asked Lucy and braced herself as they went around a sharp corner.

"Tinkerbell." Lucy smirked when Sam and Jack both turned to her with surprised looks on their faces. "She's three years old and insists she _is_ Tinkerbell 'cos her daddy says so… and no matter what she will not tell us her real name." Lucy chewed on her lower lip as if wanting to say something else. "I guess the other possibility is her parents actually did call their daughter _Tinkerbell_." She let out a snort of laughter. "You will see why she calls herself Tinkerbell when you meet her anyway."

"Poor kid, at three she won't even understand what's happening to her." Jack commented.

"No she doesn't get it. I don't know if she has a mom, but she always tells me her daddy will be back to get her soon." Lucy told them sadly. Sam wondered if it was actually better to _not_ understand… knowing that your loved ones were dead, that the majority of the population of the entire _world_ was dead… well it wasn't the kind of burden any child should carry.

"Alrighty, how do you want to do this Lucy?" Jack pulled up in his 'usual' park near the grocery store.

"I'll go in first and explain the situation." Lucy told them with no room for discussion. She opened the passenger door and slid out turning to give Sam one last smile before running to the buildings entrance.

..xx..

Sam knew exactly which child was 'Tinkerbell'. Lucy exited the supermarket with a little _fairy_ on her hip. The small girl wore a green fairy costume complete with glittery wings. Sam bit back a smile as she wasn't sure if it was adorable or actually sad that 'Tinkerbell' truly thought she was the fairy from Peter Pan.

She exited the truck first and waited for Jack, Teal'c and Daniel to reach her side before stepping towards the growing group of children stepping out onto the street.

"Hello," she smiled and gave a friendly wave, she wasn't sure how helpful a smile was while wearing the bulky orange hazmat suit. "It's nice to see you all again." There were a few childish '_hellos'_ in return but most of the children clutched at each other and shied away from the group of 'adults' before them.

"If you come to the back of the truck you can sit in here with Sam and myself." Daniel gave them a smile and waved too.

Somehow his demeanour around children was better than hers and a few of the children stepped up closer to him, one little boy even reached out and touched him. She wished she could be as relaxed as he was around them. "Come on then," Daniel said jovially and showed the children how to climb up.

Between herself and Daniel – the least intimidating of SG-1 – they managed to lift the smallest and help the rest of the children into the rear of the truck. She counted sixteen children altogether. It was about as many as she had expected.

..xx..

On arriving back at Cheyenne Mountain Jack, Sam, Teal'c &amp; Daniel decided to try talking to some of the more confident and healthier children while leaving the rest in the capable hands of the Doctor's and Nurse's. They needed to know more about 'the adults' and the only way to find out was to talk to as many of the group as they could. Unfortunately many of the children were sick, injured or just plain terrified so they were left with only three kids. Simon the boy Lucy had left in charge, Sophie an eight year old girl and Cameron a little boy of only five.

Daniel took Cameron aside to have a chat as the boy seemed taken by Daniel, Jack and Teal'c spoke to Simon who was one of few children not afraid of the imposing-looking Jaffa… and that left Sam with Sophie.

She started off by giving Sophie food and water and offering her little bits and pieces about life on base. The moment Sophie had finished eating she began talking. She was so much more at ease around Sam than Lucy had been. Sophie chattered about her friends, her family and life with Lucy on the streets and gave Sam hardly a word in edgewise! Sam desperately needed to know more about where the children had been held – but she wasn't going to push her luck by prying. She let the girl talk about anything… and well _everything_ until finally Sophie began speaking of her time _"at the jail"_ as she put it.

"I was in a room with Callie, Tinkerbell and Charlotte. It was kind of scary 'cause I like having a night light on at night – not cos I'm a baby or anything." She blushed at the words and ducked her head, suddenly looking shy. "-but anyway… they always turned the lights off in the room at night and Tinkerbell was real scared too and she kept crying and it was hard to sleep. It also smelled real bad like a hospital or something." Sophie stopped talking for a moment only to finish her bottle of water. "They used to take us one at a time and they would put us in this chair and tie us down and stick needles and stuff into us. It really hurt." Sophie had talked without getting emotional up until this point and Sam noticed the little girls eyes were filling with tears. She pushed her chair back and held her arms wide open.

"Come here sweetie…" Sophie threw herself out of her chair across the table and into Sam's arms without hesitation. She snuggled against her chest, sobbing her little heart out. She was still trying to talk but Sam could barely make out a word due to the crying so she focused on smoothing the girl's hair with her hand and whispering soothing words. Sam decided this talk was over. She would give Sophie time to cry herself out and then she would take her somewhere to sleep.

..xx..

"Nice to see you back SG-1," General Hammond was waiting for them outside the elevator on their return. "From what you told me on the phone I'm looking forward to this debrief. Before we go down though, I want to show you something." Sam raised an eyebrow at Jack, but he didn't seem to know what was going on either.

"Okay Sir," she shrugged.

Daniel and Teal'c looked as confused as she felt, so the four of them followed General Hammond in silence down the hall until they reached the old conference room. On entering the room they were surprised to see the whole place had been changed and… well… _decorated. _A beaming Cassie stood beneath streamers and balloons in the corner.

"Hey guys! Do you like it?" Sam swore she could see the girl's eyes sparkling from across the room.

"Uh… what is the occasion?" Jack asked.

"This is going to be the new movie room!" Cassie pointed to the large drop down screen and Sam then realized that there were twice as many seats in the conference room facing the screen than there used to be. "I thought I'd get it set up before all the new kids arrive." Cassie never failed to impress her. The girl truly had a heart of gold.

"Oh Cass," Sam crossed the room and brought the girl into a bone crushing hug. "This is a _brilliant_ idea!"

"It will help boost morale around this place too," General Hammond nodded at Cassie approvingly.

"The first screening is tonight at 7.30," Cassie told them. "I of course organized tickets for all of SG-1 to be there."

"Tickets?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses up his nose in typical Daniel fashion.

"Well there are only a certain amount of seats, I didn't want arguments…" Cassie looked worried. "Did I take it too far - making tickets?"

"No, no." Daniel smiled reassuringly. "I think that was a smart move."

"Indeed," Teal'c nodded. "What movie will we be watching?"

"Oh," Cassie smirked. "Well you will like it Teal'c… it's E.T!"

"Are you serious?" Jack rolled his eyes. "The one with Drew Barrymore right?"

"Is there any other?" Cassie responded with a laugh.

"Well, no." Jack sighed. "We could have watched The Simpsons you know."

"I have a limited selection of movies that I found on the base." Cassie gestured behind her at a stack of DVD's. "But when you get your Simpsons collection back, I promise I'll play them."

"Good!" Jack grinned at this. "I miss my ol' friends."

"Okay, back to business." General Hammond gestured to the door. "Time to get me up to date, SG-1."

Sam was looking forward to this debriefing. She had hardly spoken to the rest of SG-1 on their trip through 'de-con' and she hoped that the men had received more answers from Simon and Cameron than she had from Sophie, not that she faulted the girl at all. She had tried her best!

**TBC.**


	26. Chapter 26

The Virus

Chapter 26

..xx..

Once SG-1 was settled around the briefing table General Hammond nodded towards Jack to begin. It almost felt like it had before... arriving off world and bringing back exotic tales for the General.

"Teal'c and I spoke to Simon. He's sixteen and helped Lucy escape the facility they - and the other kids - were being held in." Jack looked over at Teal'c, who just raised an eyebrow as if to say 'continue'. "The children were kept locked in rooms that sound a lot like modern jail cells... so I'm wondering if this is where the 'adults' as Simon called them - were holding them. He didn't go into detail on their escape but he did seem to think that everyone escaped apart from one group. Their room had been empty when they unlocked it." He sighed. "Apparently they were taken one at a time and had lots of medical tests done... blood tests, x-rays, MRI's... and lots of honking big needles. They were given what the adults just called 'medicine' via injection every day. As far as Simon knows not one of the kids that we brought back contracted the virus. Sam what did you learn from Sophie?" He turned to face her and she suddenly felt guilty for not asking Sophie more questions. She had little to add!

"I learned nothing more than you did. Sophie is only eight and she was pretty upset... from Lucy we learned the kids were transported from elsewhere in the country. My question is... what is so special about these kids? Daniel? Did Cameron say anything?"

"He doesn't really understand. He didn't get sick, he just remembers being taken to the 'scary place' and getting lots of needles which hurt. He did say he heard the word 'jeans' and he wondered if they were talking about his pants." Daniel finished with a smile.

"Maybe he meant genes as in - genetics." Sam mused, her brain suddenly speeding up. "Maybe the children have a specific gene that helps them become immune?"

"Anyone else thinking _Niirti _right now?" Jack looked pissed off. "She's definitely dead right? Those Goa'uld have a penchant for coming back from the dead..."

"I believe she is dead O'Neill." Teal'c looked amused, as amused as the stoic Jaffa got anyway. Sam felt a shiver run through her at thoughts of the creepy Goa'uld named Niirti. She would never forget the feeling after being put in the Goa'uld machine that messed with their genetics. She was sure she was going to die a horrible death like Evanov.

"Obviously Niirti had nothing to do with this but we should probably look onto Goa'uld interference. When I first heard about the virus I heard it was developed in a lab... I had assumed being on Earth it meant humans..." Daniel trailed off looking thoughtful. "We need to find this facility."

Sam knew they could sit there for hours theorizing but what they needed to do was get out there and find out what the hell was going on. If the people - or aliens - who designed the virus were still out there then they needed to be stopped. There was a chance another deadly virus was being designed right now.

"So the kids were either being tested on to find a cure… or produce a vaccine... _or_ the people who designed the virus were trying to find out what prevented it from being 100% effective in killing off the population on Earth by finding out how they survived." Daniel sighed and fiddled with his glasses. "You are right Sam, we need to get out there." SG-1 all seemed to be in agreement and turned to General Hammond. Ultimately it was up to him.

"Alright, you have a go. You can head out tomorrow. Dismissed." He waved his hand at the door. "Enjoy your night SG-1."

..xx..

Before doing anything else, Sam headed up to the first level to check on their new arrivals, Lucy in particular. She was loathe to go through the decontamination process again but thankfully it would only be seven days until the children would be out of quarantine.

"Major Carter," Doctor O'Malley greeted her at the entrance a surprised look on his face. "Miss me that much did you?" Sam laughed lightly and stepped through.

"Of course, Doc." She teased and took a seat on the nearest cot. "I wanted to check in on Lucy actually." The procedure didn't take as long this time. She only needed a cursory look over since she wasn't coming in from the outside. She had received a call earlier to say the kids had all come back clean which meant she wouldn't even have to wear a hazmat suit when visiting them.

On entering the corridor she heard children's laughter and followed the sound to Dana's room. She found Lucy seated on the end of the girls bed, Tinkerbell snuggled next to her and a boy and girl she did not know standing at the top of the bed by Dana's head.

"Hello," She stepped into the room and five pairs of eyes turned her way, all laughter ceased the moment they said her. Apart from Lucy and Dana the others wouldn't have seen her face until now, due to the hazmat suit.

"Hi Sam," Lucy smiled first and turned to the others. "It's okay guys, Sam is cool." Sam could count on one hand the amount of times she had been classed as 'cool' and she found she was quite pleased Lucy had chosen that word to describe her. She knew it was a common word used by teenagers and merely meant she was 'okay' or in this case trustworthy… but she decided to take it as a compliment anyway.

"Dana is feeling a lot better I see," the girl in question had the pink blanket she had been given wrapped around her shoulders and a plate of food on her lap.

"I feel much, much, _much_ better." Dana gave her a shy smile.

Sam took the time to tell the children about life on base. She received a collective groan when she told them they would have "school" still... but enjoyed the excited look when she told them about the other children and Cassie's movie theatre.

Tinkerbell remained silent throughout but Sam felt the little girl's big brown eyes on her the whole time. Something about the kid pulled at her heart strings and she felt her maternal instinct kick in. It wasn't often she felt like this, but when she looked at Tinkerbell, she thought of Cassie all those years ago…

"You must be Tinkerbell." Sam stepped closer and bent to her level. The little girl nodded her head vigorously, her dark red curls bouncing with each nod. "I'm Sam I hope we can be friends."

"Okay." Tinkerbell answered simply and gave Sam the most adorable smile she had ever seen. She felt her heart melt at the sight.

"Good!" She reached out and ran a hand over the girls head and over her hair. She was surprised at how soft and clean her hair felt compared to the other kids. The older kids had been taking good care of their youngest charge. The Tinkerbell outfit was looking worse for wear though and the little white ballet shoes she wore were grey with dirt and had holes in them. She would have to see about finding fresh clothes for all of the children and possibly a fresh Tinkerbell costume for their youngest survivor since it was unlikely she would wear regular clothes. The stores may have been looted when the virus hit and everyone panicked but she was pretty sure children's clothes and costumes wouldn't have been totally cleaned out of the stores.

..xx..

She found General Hammond before heading to the commissary for food and asked about finding the time to go and get clothes and toys for all the children on base. He was fine with her plan… up until she asked if Cassie could come with her.

"I assumed you would take Jack with you as back up..." He frowned. "Cassie has little to no training..." He trailed off, his eyes widening in realization. "But you wouldn't put her at risk, so obviously you want to take the rest of SG-1?"

"I'm hoping I can convince them to accompany us... otherwise no, I won't consider taking Cassie."

"Well you have asked to do this in your down time... and if you can get the rest of SG-1 to go with you, then yes go ahead." The General gave her a smile. "Now go – eat – you need to be ready for your movie. I hear Cassie is insisting everyone dresses up for the occasion?"

"Ah, I hadn't heard that. I guess I had better find myself something nice to wear then!" Sam chuckled. It _would_ be nice to wear something other than her BDU's for once.

**TBC.**

**Authors Note: **Okay so I might have a little favouritism going on here. I know most young women that are living on base currently – and don't have military training – wouldn't be allowed to go on a "mission" no matter how innocuous it appeared… but I think it would do Cassie good to see the outside of the base… She's a smart cookie, and resourceful… Plus c'mon… Sam needs a girl to go shopping with! In saying this, I'm unlikely to put their shopping trip in this story as I still have so much to fit in… I might do a little one-shot about it.


	27. Chapter 27

**Authors Note: **I went skiing for my first time! Woo hoo! It was wicked. I think I might have to write a fic that involves skiing now. ;)

I haven't done a helluva lot of writing as I was catching up on Orphan Black (if you haven't seen it… go watch it… NOW)! &amp; I also finished Stargate Atlantis &amp; moved onto Stargate Universe. Exciting stuffffff!

Thanks again for all the reviews &amp; favourites. It makes my day to hear from all you lovely readers! I know I'm not the _best _writer – but I'm pleased that my writing is still somewhat enjoyable. ;)

**..xx..**

Sam, Cassie and Cadet Hannah Wiley stepped into the upper commissary laden with large bags of clothes, shoes and toys for the children. Lucy had somehow managed to wrangle all the children together into one room – even little Dana had been allowed out of bed for the occasion.

Sam's eyes darted around the room until they fell on their tiniest new charge – Tinkerbell. Over the past few days she had been up to visit all the children with Cassie but there was just something about Tinkerbell that drew her in. She had discussed it with Jack in bed the night before and come to the conclusion it was because she was the youngest… but on seeing the little girl again Sam wasn't so sure, she felt there was something more – a connection similar to the one she had with Cassie. She dropped her bags and called the girl over. Tinkerbell flew across the room and into Sam's open arms with a girly squeal.

"Sammie!" Her voice was muffled against Sam's hair and shoulder. "Presents!" Tinkerbell squirmed in her arms until she could see the other two woman who had begun opening up the bags and laying clothes and shoes on the tables.

"Okay, everyone needs to line up down there." Cassie pointed to the end of the row of tables. "Lucy can you help them get in line?"

"Everyone can pick one outfit and one pair of shoes and I'll take you into the next room where you can try them on." Cadet Wiley was an angel sent from heaven in Sam's eyes. The young woman had a way with children and had managed to win over even the shyest children of them all.

"I picked some clothes out for you honey," Sam lowered Tinkerbell to the ground. "Do you want to try them on?" The little girl frowned, her lips poking out into a little pout.

"No," she looked down at the ratty fairy costume and fiddled with the skirt. "No fank yous." Sam sighed. She had known it wasn't going to be easy…

"I know you like green so I got you a green dress, just like one Tinkerbell would wear." She took out the green dress she had found with an encouraging smile. "Come on, at least see if you like it?" Tinkerbell eyed the dress and then stepped forward to peer inside the plastic bag. "I got you some new knickers too, let's at least put those on then…" The poor girl was toilet trained but with all the stress she had – had a couple of accidents.

"Okay," Tinkerbell conceded and huffed out an adorable little sigh. Sam bit back her laugh and picked the girl up and the plastic bag filled with little-girl clothes. She hadn't really played favourites – Tinkerbell would need more changes of clothes if she continued to have accidents.

After only one tantrum Sam managed to get Tinkerbell out of her costume and into a fresh pair of knickers and the green dress over white stockings and little knee-high black boots. Tinkerbell had a ball stomping her feet and racing around the tiled floor making clack-clack sounds with her new shoes.

"Hey Tinkerbell, did your daddy ever call you anything else?" Sam packed the old clothes into the plastic bag and folded the extra underwear and clothes neatly, placing them underneath Tinkerbell's bed.

"Yeah, Mia!" Tinkerbell shook her head as if to say 'duh!'

"Can I call you Mia?" Tinkerbell-Mia began spinning around in dizzying circles making her dress swirl and didn't answer right away.

"Okay Sammie," she told her as she stopped spinning. "Can Mia play with toys now?"

"Of course, let's go find Cassie and Hannah." Sam took the little girls outstretched hand and felt her heart flutter. Finding out Tinkerbell's _real_ name felt like a huge accomplishment.

**..xx..**

SG-1 managed to narrow down their search for the facility the children were held at with the help of Simon and Lucy. According to Lucy it had taken the two teenagers plus - their rag-tag group of children (some injured) almost three days to make it to the grocery store they were holed up in when SG-1 found them. They enlisted Walter's help and he found two modern jail's within that distance from the grocery store. Jack hoped it would only take them one day, two at worst to make it out to the first one.

"Everyone packed and ready for their camping trip?" Jack was last out, as usual. She, Teal'c and Daniel exchanged smiles at his words, they had been sitting on their packs just soaking up the warmth from the sun while they waited for him to arrive.

Sam hefted her larger-than-usual pack onto her back and clipped it at the front over her vest. They were forgoing the hazmat suits and instead would wear masks and gloves when handling anything from "outside" and if they came into contact with any humans they would do the same. It was a risk but one all of SG-1 had agreed on. It was just not going to be feasible to wear the hazmat suits and carry all their gear. They would only be able to drive a certain distance before having to hike as they weren't about to waste precious time moving all the vehicles off the road. The one thing she held onto was that the majority of the survivors would not have contracted the virus at all therefore wouldn't be contagious… and she hoped it had been long enough that they would no longer be carrying it either.

They managed to drive for a good thirty minutes before the road became impassable. By this time Sam had managed to regale her story from that morning – watching the kid's happy faces as they played with their new toys in their equally new clothes. When she told them of her progress with Tinkerbell-Mia Jack reached across and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"This way," Jack gestured off the road. "It should be quicker if we head off the main road."

"Are you sure?" Daniel frowned and pulled a piece of paper out of his vest pocket. "I'm sure we should be heading that way." He pointed to the opposite side of the road and Sam held in a sigh. Oh boy, here we go.

"Nope, definitely this way Danny boy." Jack left no room for argument and strode on ahead. Danny stuffed the paper back in his pocket mumbling expletives under his breath and Sam let out a snort of laughter. She was sure Jack was right, he had the best sense of direction out of them all when it came to Earth.

They fell into a rhythm and Sam kept herself on alert but let her mind wander a little. She watched Jack's butt through his pants and smirked because she could actually do this now without having to hide it. When she had first realized she was attracted to him all those years ago – she had always pretended _not_ to look at him… even when he, Teal'c and Daniel were on planets with a hot climate and took their shirts off. She had kept her eyes on his face, or over his shoulder. She could now stare at him to her hearts content! She nearly missed Jack lifting his fist in the air to tell them to stop.

"What's – oomph." She elbowed Daniel in the ribs to shut him up. Obviously Jack had heard something. He stood stock-still for a moment before turning and waving them on.

"I could have sworn I heard a –" the next thing she knew she was being pushed to the ground and when she looked up she saw three horses galloping full-speed down the track they had just been on.

"Shit!" She almost laughed at the absurdity of nearly being trampled to death in Colorado Springs.

"Well… that's not something you see every day." Jack raised an eyebrow at her and raised himself into a sitting position.

"No it is not." Teal'c was staring in the direction the horses had gone and Daniel was already on his feet dusting off his rear. "I suspect we will see many domesticated animals are now loose."

After their near-accident with the horses the four of them fell silent once more. It wasn't until the light began to fade that Jack decided they should stop and set up camp. They were in a park surrounded by trees so it was probably as safe as they were going to get.

"Do you think we could risk a fire?" She asked. It was one thing she really loved when they camped off-world. She thought the novelty of it may have worn thin when they were living on Palla, but after moving back to Cheyenne Mountain she realized she missed it. There was something so soothing about watching the flames and of course sitting with three of her very favourite people… Jack thought it would be fine to have a fire so she and Daniel collected wood while he and Teal'c set up tents. Despite how serious the situation was, she was looking forward to spending a night outdoors in the fresh air!

**TBC.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Authors Note:** Yes I am still alive &amp; I'm still writing! I have just been super busy. I currently have 2 little foster rabbits on top of volunteering with horses &amp; an animal shelter and doing Parelli Natural Horsemanship lessons… and of course there is that annoying thing called work. *sigh*

I've joined Instagram &amp; if you like animals feel free to go check out my photos… my username is **eccentricrabbit **:)

..xx..

The Virus – Chapter 28

..xx..

The night was warm enough that the four of them didn't bother setting up the light weight tents they had packed. Instead they lay around the fire and whoever was on watch would keep the little fire they had built burning.

Sam found she didn't sleep long, but laying under the canopy of trees and listening to the leaves rustling soothed her. She relished the feel of the breeze brushing over her face. She was quite content to lay there with her eyes closed and just rest. Every now and again she would hear animals and her eyes would automatically open and her gaze would shoot to whoever was currently on watch. Mouse? Possum?

When the sun came up she was on watch and she set about making them all coffees. She had let the fire die down to save them wasting water putting it out so she took out their little gas burner to boil the water.

Jack was the first to wake. As usual the moment his eyes opened he sought her out, his sleepy brown eyes catching hers…

"Morning," he shuffled out of his sleeping bag and moved to sit closer to her, his arm bumping hers lightly.

"Morning;" She echoed with a smile. She loved that the first person he wanted to see every morning was her. She also loved knowing he would fight to protect her the way she would him. Jonas would never have put himself out there to protect her and at first she thought that it was because he respected her independence... but eventually she realized it was just because he cared more for himself than anyone else.

"Penny for your thoughts," he took the mug she held out for him. "Thanks hon," his fingers brushed hers sending a tingle up her spine. She hoped it would always be this way with him... every little touch setting her alight with desire.

"Hon?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are we using endearments now?" He smirked at her.

"You betcha schnookums,"

"Okay... _hon_ I can cope with... anything else and I _will_ hurt you." She teased.

"I'm awake. Can one of you lovebirds hand me a coffee." Daniel muttered from his sleeping bag. He raised his head to look at her, his bed-hair as crazy as usual. She took him a mug and ruffled said hair affectionately.

"Sorry Daniel," Teal'c was laying on his back, his eyes were open and he was staring upwards, lost in his thoughts. "Coffee Teal'c?" She placed his mug next to him and he sat up. She was always surprised how graceful the large man was. He made sitting up - even with a slightly too small sleeping bag up to his chest look effortless.

"Thank you Major Carter,"

They ate breakfast and cleaned up in record time knowing they still had a long day of walking ahead of them.

..

They walked mostly in silence and it wasn't until they had been walking a few hours that she felt the tell-tale prickle at the back of her neck. She definitely felt as though they were being watched. So as not to alert whoever it was following them she jogged a few steps to reach Jack and nudged him with her arm so he would look at her.

"Should we stop for a break?" She casually tapped the gun holstered at her hip and raised an eyebrow. He gave her a nod that told her he knew they were being followed too. Teal'c stopped walking and he was clearly aware too.

"Already?" Daniel turned to face them, a look of surprise on his face. Even after all these years in SG- 1 Daniel was still almost always last to notice signs of danger. She put it down to the fact he had such strong empathy for people of all walks of life... he liked to think the best of people despite how many times they had been betrayed! Sometimes Sam envied him this.

"I'm not feeling well," She lied. "We could rest over there?" She gestured to a park she had seen through a gap in the trees. There was a picnic table close enough to the children's play area and public toilets to give them cover if needed. It was also far enough out from the trees they were currently walking under - so they would be able to see anyone coming.

She led the way trying to keep at the same pace as before… But before she even reached the treeline she heard a shout and felt something heavy hit her in the back. She felt her right hand crunch ominously under the gun it had been resting on. She tried to get up but felt the cold metal of a gun on her temple.

"Drop your weapons and slide them over to us or I'll shoot her." She was lying face first in the dirt, a gun to her head and a potentially broken hand... but the first thing that came to her mind was that the man holding her down had godawful cologne on. She nearly laughed aloud but managed to bite her lip and keep her mouth shut. _Shock_. She told herself. It made her stupid every time.

"Alright, alright. Let the poor lady up would you?" That was Jacks voice. Relief flooded her body, he was okay. Their attackers must have snuck ahead and waited to ambush them. She was relieved to see only two pairs of men's boots in front of her. They weren't outnumbered, so they still stood a chance of escaping... if she could figure out how to get the rather heavy man off her back that was.

She heard the boys unclipping their guns and she considered throwing her body upwards and at least distracting the man before her team become weapon-less. At least they might escape… She tried to wiggle her right hand from beneath her gun but pain made her see stars. She was screwed. She would need both hands to push herself up. Next she heard the guns being tossed on the ground and the weight on her back disappeared along with the gun.

Sam took a deep breath and gently extracted her injured hand and pushed herself up with her good hand. She was shoved over to the rest of her team who were standing with their backs facing their attackers. Hope of escape was dwindling fast.

She stepped up beside Jack and he turned to her, his eyes showing how relieved he was that she was ok. She gave him a small smile before one of the men grabbed both her wrists, yanking them behind her back. As if in slow motion she felt the pain in her hand radiate up her arm and to her horror she felt her legs give out and she fell to her knees.

"Her hands broken, should I still put the cuffs on her?" Through the haze of pain she heard someone say to cuff her hands in front of her. She was gently lifted to her feet and she found herself facing a rather apologetic looking man. "Sorry 'bout this Miss." With much more care than a moment ago he took both hands and placed plastic cuffs on her, to her surprise he was considerate enough to leave the right side loose so it didn't make the pain in her hand worse.

She turned and found Jack, Daniel and Teal'c had their hands cuffed behind their backs. They had matching looks of concern on their faces. She gave them the most reassuring smile she could muster.

"Follow me," the stinky man who had been on her only a few minutes before began walking away and the other two men fell into step behind SG-1. She tried to ignore the pain in her hand and keep her head up. Things couldn't get much worse.

TBC.


End file.
